Men! 50-plus? Earning less than 2,500 dollars? You can't marry here

Mar 16, 2011, 10:25 GMT

Phnom Penh - Cambodian government officials confirmed Wednesday that foreign men aged 50 years and above would no longer be permitted to marry local women.

Under new legislation, which came into effect on March 1, any foreign male under 50 must earn more than 2,500 dollars a month in order to take a local bride.

The legislation applies only to foreign men wanting to get married inside Cambodia.

Government spokesman Koy Kuong said the new law was designed partly to ensure prospective husbands could take good financial care of their brides.

'And also we do not want young Cambodian girls getting married to an old foreigner,' Koy Kuong said. 'I want a couple to look like a real couple, not like granddaughter and grandfather.'

He said another motivation was to prevent human trafficking, although he did not know whether the government had researched how effective the restrictions could be against that scourge.

Between 50-70 marriages between foreign men and Cambodian women take place every month.

The legislation does not apply to foreign women looking to marry Cambodian men.

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