ABC Radio Australia
Every year thousands of women migrate to richer, neighbouring countries as brides. But it's not always a happy ending, with many women feeling isolated or trapped in abusive relationships.
Several countries are now acting to improve the situation, but - with gender imbalances worsening in some parts of Asia, and more women looking to escape tough economic times - the issue is an increasingly complex one.
Presenter: Helene Hofman
Speakers: Ching Lung Tsay, Professor of Asian Studies, Tamkang University, Taiwan; Regina Galias, Chief Immigrant Services Officer, Migrant Education and Integration Division, Commission on Filipinos Overseas; Andrew Bruce, Representative for South-East Asia, International Organisation's for Migration
Professor Ching Lung Tsay from Tamkang University in Taiwan has been monitoring marriage migration trends for decades.
HOFMAN: It's a practice that's no longer reserved for the rich.
In certain parts of China, Japan and South Korea gender imbalances are making it increasingly difficult for men to find wives and they're turning to their poorer neighbours for a solution.
Every year thousands of women from Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia take up offers of marriage abroad.
They're usually young, disadvantaged women in search of a better life, but the profile of their husbands is changing.
TSAY: With the economic developments, people tend to delay their marriage, especially among females so the men find it more and more difficult to find a spouse, especially if they are so-called disadvantaged in some sense, like they are agricultural workers and low skilled workers or they are already too old to get married or they are in a lower education group.
HOFMAN: Both Japan and Singapore have seen a gradual growth in the number of men recruiting women from abroad.
But more notable has been the increase in interest from China - which has traditionally exported brides. Now men from male-dominated regions are also looking to other parts of China or abroad for wives.
And in South Korea - where the practice is more established - over a third of fisherman and farmers who married in the 12 months to May 2009 took foreign brides.
Andrew Bruce, the International Organisation's for Migration's Representative for South-East Asia, says attempting to correct a gender imbalance in this way is dangerous.
BRUCE: What we're finding is that with large flows of young women you will then cause a situation similar to what you have in China today with a shortage of marriageable women and then of course this is the possibility for trafficking. You've got people watching and bringing in people from other parts of the region, trafficking them in to fulfil that shortage of women and it's worrying for countries just to have a great shortage of women. It can be disruptive and it's not great for the social structure as well.
HOFMAN: And as for the women themselves?
A study completed by Uma Narayan from Vassar College in the United States last year showed women who's immigration status depended on their marriage, were much more likely to be subjected to domestic violence.
Earlier this decade, there were a handful of high-profile suicide attempts and even murders.
Now, those stories are less common but many women are complaining of feeling isolated and depressed by their new situations.
The Philippines, which has seen over 300-thousand women leave to marry foreigners since 1989.
It has had a ban on commercial international match making agencies for over a decade and all couples are interviewed to ensure the marriage is legitimate.
Despite this Regina Galias, the chief immigrant services officer for the migrant education and integration division of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas says they are still contacted by women who have found themselves in difficult situations.
GALIAS: There's an issue of domestic violence, there are verbal, sexual and physical abuses. Some of them have been victims of human trafficking in the guise of marriage. There's actually a case in Japan where they were brought to a club, where they were forced to work as prostitutes and they never saw their husbands and then there's also abandonment. So when they got there, they found that their husbands actually have another wife and they were just brought to the country for domestic work. So we try to help them because a lot of them want to go back to the Philippines or maybe file for divorce. If they want to stay in the country we try and help them relate to their spouse even if they haven't known each other a long time. So those are the cases that we encounter.
HOFMAN: Many countries are working to address the issues arising from marriage migration.
Last year, Taiwan responded to complaints that many migrant brides were being mistreated and banned commercial international match-making services.
South Korea is also looking at ways to tackle abuses of the system.
18 months ago, Cambodia set up the Association for People Protection to regulate marriages to foreigners, while Indonesia is currently revising its marriage legislation.
Several countries are now acting to improve the situation, but - with gender imbalances worsening in some parts of Asia, and more women looking to escape tough economic times - the issue is an increasingly complex one.
Presenter: Helene Hofman
Speakers: Ching Lung Tsay, Professor of Asian Studies, Tamkang University, Taiwan; Regina Galias, Chief Immigrant Services Officer, Migrant Education and Integration Division, Commission on Filipinos Overseas; Andrew Bruce, Representative for South-East Asia, International Organisation's for Migration
Professor Ching Lung Tsay from Tamkang University in Taiwan has been monitoring marriage migration trends for decades.
HOFMAN: It's a practice that's no longer reserved for the rich.
In certain parts of China, Japan and South Korea gender imbalances are making it increasingly difficult for men to find wives and they're turning to their poorer neighbours for a solution.
Every year thousands of women from Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia take up offers of marriage abroad.
They're usually young, disadvantaged women in search of a better life, but the profile of their husbands is changing.
TSAY: With the economic developments, people tend to delay their marriage, especially among females so the men find it more and more difficult to find a spouse, especially if they are so-called disadvantaged in some sense, like they are agricultural workers and low skilled workers or they are already too old to get married or they are in a lower education group.
HOFMAN: Both Japan and Singapore have seen a gradual growth in the number of men recruiting women from abroad.
But more notable has been the increase in interest from China - which has traditionally exported brides. Now men from male-dominated regions are also looking to other parts of China or abroad for wives.
And in South Korea - where the practice is more established - over a third of fisherman and farmers who married in the 12 months to May 2009 took foreign brides.
Andrew Bruce, the International Organisation's for Migration's Representative for South-East Asia, says attempting to correct a gender imbalance in this way is dangerous.
BRUCE: What we're finding is that with large flows of young women you will then cause a situation similar to what you have in China today with a shortage of marriageable women and then of course this is the possibility for trafficking. You've got people watching and bringing in people from other parts of the region, trafficking them in to fulfil that shortage of women and it's worrying for countries just to have a great shortage of women. It can be disruptive and it's not great for the social structure as well.
HOFMAN: And as for the women themselves?
A study completed by Uma Narayan from Vassar College in the United States last year showed women who's immigration status depended on their marriage, were much more likely to be subjected to domestic violence.
Earlier this decade, there were a handful of high-profile suicide attempts and even murders.
Now, those stories are less common but many women are complaining of feeling isolated and depressed by their new situations.
The Philippines, which has seen over 300-thousand women leave to marry foreigners since 1989.
It has had a ban on commercial international match making agencies for over a decade and all couples are interviewed to ensure the marriage is legitimate.
Despite this Regina Galias, the chief immigrant services officer for the migrant education and integration division of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas says they are still contacted by women who have found themselves in difficult situations.
GALIAS: There's an issue of domestic violence, there are verbal, sexual and physical abuses. Some of them have been victims of human trafficking in the guise of marriage. There's actually a case in Japan where they were brought to a club, where they were forced to work as prostitutes and they never saw their husbands and then there's also abandonment. So when they got there, they found that their husbands actually have another wife and they were just brought to the country for domestic work. So we try to help them because a lot of them want to go back to the Philippines or maybe file for divorce. If they want to stay in the country we try and help them relate to their spouse even if they haven't known each other a long time. So those are the cases that we encounter.
HOFMAN: Many countries are working to address the issues arising from marriage migration.
Last year, Taiwan responded to complaints that many migrant brides were being mistreated and banned commercial international match-making services.
South Korea is also looking at ways to tackle abuses of the system.
18 months ago, Cambodia set up the Association for People Protection to regulate marriages to foreigners, while Indonesia is currently revising its marriage legislation.
