Vietnam is banning
the practice of exporting its women as brides.
According to Lianhe Wanbao, more than 100,000 women have been exported
this way in the past ten years to countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia
and South Korea.
As a result of the large number of women leaving the country,
Vietnamese men are now finding it hard to find wives.
In a bid to reverse the trend, the Vietnamese government has enacted
new laws to ban local and overseas matchmaking agencies from arranging overseas
marriages for the local women.
Those found arranging such marriages may face 8 to 20 years of jail.
However, local matchmaking agencies do not appear too worried.
Mr Zhuo Xin Cheng, the owner of a local matchmaking agency, told Lianhe
Wanbao reporters that he is not surprised by the decision.
He said, "The Vietnamese government has long noticed that the
local woman have been leaving to get married overseas."
He explained that matchmakers can often find new ways to circumvent the
rules, despite the Vietnamese government's efforts.
Vietnamese women in poor rural areas typically face two choices to get
out of poverty – they can either leave home to work in the city, or marry
overseas.
Of the two, it can be quicker and more effective to marry overseas, but
there is a luck factor involved.
The lucky ones may find a good husband quickly while the unlucky ones
may never find a match.
These women may end up without a husband and may even be forced to sell
their bodies to pay the cost of the air ticket and to support themselves.
Most current Vietnamese brides already go through legal loopholes to
marry overseas.
Agents will set up the women as tourists to meet their prospective
husbands in foreign countries.
As tourists, the Vietnamese government mandates that the women must
carry with them at least US$500 (about S$630) when they leave the country.
But this measure has proven ineffective.
An informer told Lianhe Wanbao, "This sum is often covered by the
overseas matchmaking agency."
After the match is made, the women will return to Vietnam and wait for
their future husbands to apply for a 'Singles Pass' which will allow them to
leave the country and get married.
AsiaOne
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