: The brides-to-be are brought down from mediocre Kampuchean small towns and herded into metropolis hotels, where they are lined up and set on show for prospective bridegrooms flown in from South Korea.
Over the past four years, some 2,500 women have got wedded South Korean men, passing through an belowground matchmaking concern that few in Kingdom Of Cambodia knew existed until recently.
A study to be released next calendar month by the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration sheds visible light on the growth phenomenon. A crackdown on matrimony agents in neighbour Socialist Republic Of Vietnam is pushing the activity into Cambodia, according to the report, an progress transcript of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
"It's go a large business," said Toilet McGeoghan, an IOM undertaking coordinator in Cambodia. "We now see that these matrimony agents are popping up in Cambodia. This is a new marketplace for them, and there's a batch of money to be made."
Potential bridegrooms reportedly pay agents up to US$20,000 (euro13,000), the IOM study says. The bride's household have at most US$1,000 (euro650), with the remainder pocketed by brokers. It is ill-defined how many are now operating in Cambodia. Today in Asia - Pacific
The grooms, mostly mill workers and farmers, have got problem determination wives in South Korean Peninsula because they are low-income earners, IOM says. Although some of the matrimonies turn out successful, others announce loneliness, broken promises, divorcement and sometimes violence, the study says.
Kim In-Kook, A South Korean embassy official, confirmed that the figure of matrimony visas issued to Kampuchean brides soared from 72 in 2004 to 1,759 last year. He declined additional comment.
Growing South Korean investing and touristry in Kingdom Of Cambodia is also playing "a important function in the enlargement of multinational marriages" between the two countries, the IOM study says.
Cambodia's authorities publicly acknowledged the issue for the first clip this month, apparently alarmed that it could skid into human trafficking, in which women are tricked or forced into marriage.
Earlier this month, the Inside Ministry announced it was canceling licences of two South Korean companies for piquant in the matchmaking business. The houses had registered as export-import houses to procure legal entry into the country, a ministry functionary said on status of namelessness because he is not authorized to let go of information.
Interior Curate Sar Kheng denounced the firms' activities as "human trafficking."
Prime Curate Hun Sen spoke out on the job shortly after, telling law enforcement federal agencies to be stricter in issuing matrimony certifications "to forestall delusory activities." He also urged parents "not to be so easygoing" about sending their girls into brokered matrimonies with foreigners.
Traditionally, matrimonies in Kingdom Of Cambodia are arranged by parents. Now, agents are approaching Kampuchean families. If interested, the households supply photographs of their daughters, which are sent to South Korean Peninsula or posted on Web sites, the IOM study says.
Brokers set up 4-to-6 twenty-four hours matrimony circuits to Kingdom Of Cambodia for prospective grooms, most of whom have got expressed involvement in more than than one woman, the study says. The work force are ushered through something kindred to belowground speed-dating, followed by a matrimony ceremony.
"Most of the matchmaking happens in eating houses or little hotels located in or near Phnom Penh," the study says, referring to Cambodia's working capital city. "There the work force typically choose a bride from as many as 100 who are made available."
The women are mostly in their late teens and early 20s, attracted by promises of high life criteria and money, the study says.
It mentions one matrimony in which a South Korean adult male promised to do monthly remittals to his bride's family, but was too mediocre to maintain the promise. "This caused latent hostility and statements that resulted in domestic violence," the study says.
The adult female is seeking divorce, but have got received menaces from the Kampuchean matrimony brokers, who have told her she would be charged US$1,000 if she go backs and her parents would be harmed, the study says.
"It's not as romanticist and fantastic as (the women) thought it would be," McGeoghan said.