Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Ban on marriage to South Koreans lifted

Will Baxter and Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

THE government said Tuesday that it had lifted a temporary ban on marriages between Cambodian women and South Korean men that was imposed last month after a broker was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in arranging such unions.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said a “confidential” letter had been sent to all embassies last Thursday stating that foreigners looking to marry Cambodians must appear in person to submit applications to his ministry as well as to the Interior Ministry and local authorities. The letter, he added, had effectively lifted the ban.

When the ban was announced last month, Koy Kuong said it would remain in place until the government could establish an effective screening mechanism to prevent cases of trafficking.


WE HAVE TRIED TO IMPROVE THE PROCEDURE TO PREVENT HUMAN TRAFFICKING."


Last week, however, Chou Bun Eng, a secretary of state at the Interior Ministry, said the government was planning to lift the ban, but that no protocols had been put in place beyond sub-decree 183, the article that governs marriages between Cambodians and foreigners.

On Tuesday, Koy Kuong said changes had in fact been made to prevent marriages from being arranged by brokers such as the woman who was sentenced in March.

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