Parliamentarians in Swaziland began debating a law on Thursday that if passed would force Swazi citizens to pay $2 200 to marry a foreigner.<\/p>\n
The government claims foreign men target women in the landlocked kingdom to secure the right to work in the country, and elsewhere on the continent, but later abandon them.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The bill aims to protect Swazi ladies from the manipulation and abuse by their foreign partners who marry them for the sole purpose of getting our citizenship,\u00a0\u00bb said government spokesperson Percy Simelane.<\/p>\n
If the law is passed, mixed Swazi-foreign couples will be required to pay $2 200 to register their marriage in the country.<\/p>\n