Friday January 28, 2011
‘Husbands’ for hire
IPOH: Husbands are available for hire here – and most of the takers are apparently foreign women who need a pass to remain in the country. It is believed these “husbands”, who are usually middle-aged men, would agree to the marriage for monetary gains.
Perak Immigration department director Mohamad Shukri Nawi (pic) said his officers had come across several cases where men admitted their marriage was a sham. “There were times when women arrested at nightspots would furnish us with a so-called marriage certificate,” he said.
“But when the husband turns up to claim the wife, he eventually admits the marriage is just a cover,” Mohamad Shukri said when interviewed here. He said the department has its own way to detect such marriages of convenience.
“We get suspicious when a much older man marries a young foreigner,” he said. “This is especially so if the man’s occupation is listed as rubber tapper or fisherman.” He said the department would check out the address given by the couple to verify whether the so called husband-and-wife were staying together.
Asked about the fate of the foreign women in such marriages of convenience, Mohamad Shukri said their passes would be revoked and they would be deported. Nevertheless, he said the department approved 1,264 passes for foreign wives and husbands last year.
On another matter, Mohamad Shukri said women from China remained the “preferred choice” of local men. “But Vietnamese women are also fast gaining popularity among Malaysian men as the number of Vietnamese and Chinese women arrested last year are more or less the same,” he said, adding that the department conducted 28 raids under Ops Sayang last year.
He also said the department was expected to implement the biometric system at Pengkalan Hulu check point and the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport here in March.
