Fourteen years ago, 21-year-old Vu Thanh Huyen (an alias), from Lap Le Commune,Thuy Nguyen District of Hai Phong City, left her hometown with the hope ofchanging her life by marrying a Chinese man.
Five years later, Huyencontracted HIV/AIDS from her husband.
In 1996, keeping in mind thepromise of a bright future with a rich Chinese man, Huyen left her hometown tofollow her dreams to China . But she was shocked to find out that her "husband"was a peasant who gambled all day and treated her like a servant.
Aftershe gave birth to her first child, a boy, her husband's family took him awayfrom her.
When she gave birth to her second child, a girl, no one caredfor either of them.
Later on, she found out she had caught HIV from herhusband. After returning to Vietnam , she has had no news of her son.
Huyen's is only one of the many sad stories of women who used a marriagebroker to marry a foreign man, hoping that luck would come to them and changetheir poor lives.
According to Vu Thi Ngot, president of Lap Le Commune'sWomen Union, in the past two years more than 20 women have returned from suchmarriages, all with their dreams in tatters.
A good choice?
According tostatistics by the General Statistics Office, between 2005 and 2008, 32,000Vietnamese women married foreigners, mostly Chinese and Korean.
Meanwhile,statistics by the Statistics Office of the Republic of Korea (RoK) show that,the number of Korean men marrying Vietnamese women increased from 134 in 2001 to5,822 in 2005.
According to Le Thi Quy, director of the Gender andDevelopment Research Centre, most of the Vietnamese women who want to marryforeign men are from poor families, either jobless or doing agricultural work.
" Vietnam 's laws do not prohibit foreign marriages, which can prove to be acultural bridge linking Vietnam to other countries," she said.
According toHo Xuan Huy from the Vietnam International Organisation for Migration (IOM),most foreign marriages are arranged through marriage brokers.
"Theseagencies earn their fees by enticing Vietnamese women with false informationabout their future husbands," Huy said.
Many women are then forced to becomeservants for their husbands' families and made to work hard and sometimes evenhit, according to a report by the IOM.
Lack of knowledge among Vietnamesewomen living in rural areas and a lack of adequate regulations on foreignmarriages are problems that need to be addressed to tackle the issue, accordingto Quy.
Le Thi Hoang Thanh, from the Institute of Legal Science of theMinistry of Justice, said that Vietnam did not have any systems in place toprovide information to citizens who wish to marry foreigners. There are also noregulations for the protection of Vietnamese women who choose to settle in theirforeign husbands' country, as no agreements have been reached for Vietnamesewomen's rights abroad.
For example, RoK law states that housewives shouldnot be acknowledged as contributing to the common property of husband and wife.
Moreover, no effective attempts had been made to stop the illegal marriagebrokers, Thanh said.
Marriage support centres had been set up in 16 citiesand provinces across the country but the operation of these centres had not beeneffective enough, she added.
Quy said that laws needed to be improved forthe protection of women so they can enjoy safe and happy marriages, as well asgender equality.
Campaigns to provide Vietnamese women with informationabout foreign marriages should be strengthened together with the opening of moremarriage support centres.
"If I had been warned in the first place, I wouldnot have taken the risk," Huyen said, adding that there were still many women insimilar positions to the one she had been in, who wished to marry a foreigner.
"Communication is very important to help these women avoid the things that Iand many others have been through" she said. Sighing deeply, Huyen said her onlywish was to meet her son again, and she said she hoped no other mother wouldhave to suffer what she had endured./.
Five years later, Huyencontracted HIV/AIDS from her husband.
In 1996, keeping in mind thepromise of a bright future with a rich Chinese man, Huyen left her hometown tofollow her dreams to China . But she was shocked to find out that her "husband"was a peasant who gambled all day and treated her like a servant.
Aftershe gave birth to her first child, a boy, her husband's family took him awayfrom her.
When she gave birth to her second child, a girl, no one caredfor either of them.
Later on, she found out she had caught HIV from herhusband. After returning to Vietnam , she has had no news of her son.
Huyen's is only one of the many sad stories of women who used a marriagebroker to marry a foreign man, hoping that luck would come to them and changetheir poor lives.
According to Vu Thi Ngot, president of Lap Le Commune'sWomen Union, in the past two years more than 20 women have returned from suchmarriages, all with their dreams in tatters.
A good choice?
According tostatistics by the General Statistics Office, between 2005 and 2008, 32,000Vietnamese women married foreigners, mostly Chinese and Korean.
Meanwhile,statistics by the Statistics Office of the Republic of Korea (RoK) show that,the number of Korean men marrying Vietnamese women increased from 134 in 2001 to5,822 in 2005.
According to Le Thi Quy, director of the Gender andDevelopment Research Centre, most of the Vietnamese women who want to marryforeign men are from poor families, either jobless or doing agricultural work.
" Vietnam 's laws do not prohibit foreign marriages, which can prove to be acultural bridge linking Vietnam to other countries," she said.
According toHo Xuan Huy from the Vietnam International Organisation for Migration (IOM),most foreign marriages are arranged through marriage brokers.
"Theseagencies earn their fees by enticing Vietnamese women with false informationabout their future husbands," Huy said.
Many women are then forced to becomeservants for their husbands' families and made to work hard and sometimes evenhit, according to a report by the IOM.
Lack of knowledge among Vietnamesewomen living in rural areas and a lack of adequate regulations on foreignmarriages are problems that need to be addressed to tackle the issue, accordingto Quy.
Le Thi Hoang Thanh, from the Institute of Legal Science of theMinistry of Justice, said that Vietnam did not have any systems in place toprovide information to citizens who wish to marry foreigners. There are also noregulations for the protection of Vietnamese women who choose to settle in theirforeign husbands' country, as no agreements have been reached for Vietnamesewomen's rights abroad.
For example, RoK law states that housewives shouldnot be acknowledged as contributing to the common property of husband and wife.
Moreover, no effective attempts had been made to stop the illegal marriagebrokers, Thanh said.
Marriage support centres had been set up in 16 citiesand provinces across the country but the operation of these centres had not beeneffective enough, she added.
Quy said that laws needed to be improved forthe protection of women so they can enjoy safe and happy marriages, as well asgender equality.
Campaigns to provide Vietnamese women with informationabout foreign marriages should be strengthened together with the opening of moremarriage support centres.
"If I had been warned in the first place, I wouldnot have taken the risk," Huyen said, adding that there were still many women insimilar positions to the one she had been in, who wished to marry a foreigner.
"Communication is very important to help these women avoid the things that Iand many others have been through" she said. Sighing deeply, Huyen said her onlywish was to meet her son again, and she said she hoped no other mother wouldhave to suffer what she had endured./.
