WINDHOEK – The Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration receives at least two requests on a weekly basis in which Namibian women married to foreigners request the ministry to help them trace the whereabouts of their ‘husbands’.
Speaking in an interview with New Era yesterday, the spokeswoman in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, Salome Kambala, said between 20 percent and 25 percent of foreigners who marry Namibians do it mainly to acquire citizenship and national documents.
Kambala was responding to queries on five Egyptian illegal immigrants who were arrested in Hochland Park earlier this month.
New Era reliably learnt that four of the immigrants were in possession of marriage certificates that indicated all the five Egyptian men were “married” to one Namibian woman.
“I can confirm the arrest of the Egyptians,” said Kambala. But she could not confirm whether the men were married to one woman.
“One of them is married to a Namibian woman and he is currently waiting for a domicile certificate. They were arrested because they are illegal immigrants. We are seriously warning young Namibian girls to refrain from falling in love with foreigners. Most foreigners are using them to obtain Namibian citizenship,” said Kambala.
Kambala said the situation is grave because it is on the increase and in most cases Namibian women between the ages of 20 and 28 are victims of this trend. The majority of the men who are normally middle-aged hail from Pakistan, India, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and China.
Unconfirmed reports indicated one foreigner was so desperate to get “married” to any Namibian woman he offered N$60 000 for the marriage.
“The majority of the husbands run away with the marriage certificates. We get so many reports of young girls who are coming to us to help them trace the whereabouts of their husbands,” said a concerned Kambala. Although it is possible to trace the runaway husbands, Kambala said tracing these people is cumbersome and expensive.
“We help very little because we don’t know where the particular persons are. If you can’t find your husband where do you think the ministry will find your husband?” queried Kambala.
Added Kambala: “Some people especially those residing in Europe are organising their marriages through the internet. This is not necessarily because they love the girls and their intention is not really to marry them but it is just because they want to obtain national documents to settle in Namibia.”
She added that poverty is the main contributing factor to why women marry foreigners. “Girls think when they marry a foreigner their well–being will change but in reality they are just entering torture,” she said.
She justified her statement by saying it is difficult for most women who are married for documents to divorce and they cannot get married to a different man because they are married to the absent foreign husband.
She advised women to get to know their partners before committing to marriage.
“It is also important for couples to seek pre-marital counselling,” Kambala advised.