Canadian Newsprint Portrayals of Foreign Brides/ “Mail Order Brides": Comparing Representations Surrounding Policy Changes in 2002 and 2012

Despite the small amount of Canadian literature on the topic of “mail order brides”, authors have argued that women in this situation often face abuse at a heightened rate, which highlights the need for more research. Focusing on the time periods of 2000-2004 and 2010- 2014, Canadian newsprint stories were gathered in order to compare media portrayals of “mail order brides” surrounding two important policy changes. Findings indicate that surrounding a policy amendment in 2002, more positive portrayals of “mail order brides” can be noted, whereas more emphasis on fraudulent cases of “mail order brides” are present in press surrounding a second policy change in 2012. As well, blaming the individual is constant over both time periods, with minimal focus on broader structural issues that disadvantage “mail order brides”. Future research is needed to expand understanding on this topic with the goal of promoting more progressive immigration policies.

Canadian Newsprint Portrayals of Foreign Brides/ “Mail Order Brides": Comparing Representations Surrounding Policy Changes in 2002 and 2012

Despite the small amount of Canadian literature on the topic of “mail order brides”, authors have argued that women in this situation often face abuse at a heightened rate, which highlights the need for more research. Focusing on the time periods of 2000-2004 and 2010- 2014, Canadian newsprint stories were gathered in order to compare media portrayals of “mail order brides” surrounding two important policy changes. Findings indicate that surrounding a policy amendment in 2002, more positive portrayals of “mail order brides” can be noted, whereas more emphasis on fraudulent cases of “mail order brides” are present in press surrounding a second policy change in 2012. As well, blaming the individual is constant over both time periods, with minimal focus on broader structural issues that disadvantage “mail order brides”. Future research is needed to expand understanding on this topic with the goal of promoting more progressive immigration policies.

'Quiet Dream': Vietnamese women and marriage migration

ABSTRACT The photographic essay, 'Quiet Dream', by photographer and lecturer Oh Soon-Hwa, represents the culmination of years of work with young Vietnamese women during a "bride phase" in Vietnam, which refers to a period of waiting before leaving home and kin to travel overseas in order to marry foreign men, usually in Taiwan and South Korea. This series was taken on and around a small island in the region of the Mekong Delta (one of the poorest areas in Vietnam), nicknamed "Taiwan Island", where many young women are pressured to marry foreigners for various complex reasons, which the author discusses. Oh's photographic essay focuses on the beauty and serenity of the environment surrounding these women while they have to deal with diverse expectations, which includes leaving behind part of their identity, the familiar landscape, climate, language, family, friends, traditions, and way of living. Until recently, studies on marriage migration have tended to focus on remittances and the economic impact of migration. New studies adopt a more comprehensive social perspective, examining the effects of migration on the social fabric of the migrants' home community. Placed in the context of these ongoing studies, Oh's work is important in drawing attention to the lives and identities of these women (what they give up) before entering into marriage migration. My article focuses on two aspects of Oh's photographs: 1) the technique of stitched photography; and 2) the compo-sition of the photograph, particularly the choice of dress worn by the subject. Half of the portraits are stitched photographs, which is a technique that merges together several photographs to form a unique piece, with the aim of providing a wider view of the environment of the subject. This method of stitching also bears testimony to the stitched futures of these women; the hopes and dreams they harbour as foreign brides, as well as the familiar landscapes and identities they leave behind, all "stitched" together as it were, to constitute a hopeful, but also unsure, resigned and imagined future. Keywords: cross-border marriage, ocular ethic, Oh Soon-Hwa, re-visioning, vision as critique.

Measuring Family Migration in Russia: Sources of Data and Problems of Its Interpretation

The article presents the results of a study aimed at generalizing the sources of data, available in Russia, that characterizes a significant but little-studied phenomenon of family migration. The paper considers data from the Main Directorate for Migration Issues of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia on issued temporary residence permits (TRP) and acquisition of citizenship, Rosstat materials on the number of marriages with foreigners, as well as statistics on migration flows, which indicate family reasons. Considerable attention is given to the analysis of the Main Directorate for Migration Issues data on issued TRP and citizenship acquisition, on family reunification grounds. Based on the analyzed information, it is concluded that family migration is the major part of the flow of foreigners receiving TRP, and its share amounts to at least 35% of the total. Taking into account that a significant part of the TRPs is issued to the accompanying family members of the participants of the State Programme to Assist Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots Living Abroad, the share of family migration can be increased to almost 50% of the TRP recipients. The percentage of migrants who acquired citizenship based on family ties with Russian citizens also amounts to about 36% of the annual flow and taking into account family members of participants of the State Program it makes almost 60% of all foreigners naturalized in 2014-2018.Analyzing the Russian statistics on citizenship acquisition available since 2010, the author notes that after the changes in the citizenship law in early 2010s, citizens of states that do not have international agreements with Russia actively use marriages with Russian citizens to simplify citizenship acquisition, and the number of such cases is growing rapidly. The basic growth rates of this category of naturalized migrants in 2018 compared to the level of 2010 reached 300 times among the citizens of Tajikistan, 110 times among the citizens of Moldova and almost 60 times among the citizens of Azerbaijan. The author suggests that there is an expansion of the practice of marriages of convenience to overcome the complexities of Russian immigration law. This hypothesis needs to be tested. It is also necessary to study the phenomenon of “transnational marriages”. The disparity in the number of foreigners, men and women who married Russian citizens, revealed by Rosstat data, also requires further study. On average, there are 15 foreign grooms per 10 foreign brides, for Tajikistan citizens this ratio amounts to 32, for Azerbaijan citizens 26, for citizens of Uzbekistan 17 and Moldova 14. The article ends with an analysis of Rosstat’s annual reports on the reasons for move and shows a limited potential of this information. The author makes recommendations for the development of administrative statistics and sample surveys to study family migration and use new types of data in research.

Reducing information asymmetry before marriage: Evidence from South Korea

This study examines whether information asymmetry during the matchmaking period affects women’s choice of spouse. The 2010 amendment of the Marriage Brokers Business Management Act requiring international marriage brokers in South Korea to provide more information about their South Korean male clients to prospective foreign brides in brokered marriages provided an opportunity to probe this question. Using the National Survey of Multicultural Families 2015, we employed the difference-in-differences method. Following the 2010 amendment, foreign women in brokered marriages were more likely to marry a more-educated Korean man and were less likely to work in low-skilled jobs after marriage.

Life Satisfaction of Cross-Border Marriage Migrants in South Korea: Exploring the Social Network Effects

This study examines the recent phenomenon of “cross-border marriage” in South Korea: foreign brides migrating into Korea to get married to Korean bachelors. Using data from the National Survey of Multicultural Families 2009, one of the biggest data sets on marriage migrants, we analyze how the difference in migrants’ initial methods of entry affects the level of their life satisfaction. The findings show greater life satisfaction for those who used personal social networks, when compared with those who used commercial brokers as a method of entry. The analyses also reveal the importance of current social networks and their role in moderating the effect of the initial methods of entry after a prolonged period of residence.

INTEGRASI DAN ADAPTASI SOSIAL MIGRANT DI KOREA SELATAN

<p>South Korea is a country which is gradually facilitating incoming groups of migrants with different approaches including the social aspect of it. This literature reviews that the three biggest migrant groups in South Korea: foreign brides, migrant workers, and international students have major problem in the process of social integration in South Korean society. Therefore, different efforts in social welfare focusing in multicultural program are provided to each category of migrant that also differs depending on the needs of one another. Foreign brides receive the most attention compared to other groups covering programs such as facilities, services, and multicultural programs. Regardless the problems faced by foreign brides, they receive different programs including treatment recovery program, counseling, legal and medical aid. Meanwhile, migrant workers is not included within the long term strategy of the government therefore the coverage is less than foreign brides. Lastly, international students are considered as the group of educated migrants in which the programs are mainly covered by their respective institutions. </p>