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Indonesia warns of mail-order bride scheme
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This year, Indonesian Embassy in Beijing received a total of 42 complaints filed by Indonesian women who had married Chinese men under such a mail-order bride arrangement, three of whom were underage. (Shutterstock/File)
I
ndonesia is facing a worrying increase of possible human-trafficking cases, with young women from across the archipelago being lured under the guise of "mail-order brides" to China, where the one-child policy has resulted in a gender imbalance and shortage of women to marry.
Between January to October, the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, in collaboration with various government agencies and China’s authorities, sent home 36 women who had fallen victim to bride trafficking.
"The main challenge now is how we can all strengthen preventive measures at home, including educating the public so people are not tempted by promises of financial benefits that are usually offered by marriage agents," the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing's deputy chief of mission, Listyowati, said on Thursday on the sidelines of a discussion over the handling of bride trafficking to China.
This year alone, the embassy received a total of 42 complaints filed by Indonesian women who had married Chinese men under such a mail-order bride arrangement, three of whom were underage. The number almost doubled from 2018 with 28 complaints and 2017 with 21 complaints.
Mail-order marriages between Indonesian women and Chinese men have been going on for decades, especially in West Kalimantan, which has a large population of Indonesians of Chinese descent, mainly Hakka Chinese.
Chinese police announced earlier this year that more than 1,100 foreign women, mostly from Southeast Asia, had been rescued in the country in a six-month operation that ended last year, Reuters reported. Some 1,330 suspects were also arrested.
China’s decades-long one-child policy has created a huge gender imbalance, leaving it with far fewer women than men and creating high demand for foreign brides. The situation opens the opportunity for marriage agents to target Indonesian women, luring them to China with the promise of money and a luxurious life.
