Recently 35-year-old Ashpreet Badwal expressed her anguish - and anger - at her vanishing husband right at Pearson Airport, after she'd spent thousands of dollars fighting to bring him here. She did not even have a chance to see her husband's face. This person, Manjit Shahi, went missing from the airport itself because he already had the documents for a permanent stay.

This is not an isolated incident. It unfortunately happens all too regularly here. An unbreakable chain of humans cheating humans keeps going. It is said when a heart breaks it does not make any noise, but everyone can see its effect. Now the question is: does it make a sound, when the law is broken?

There are no two opinions the problem is so big that we cannot find any quick or inexpensive solution. Such fraudulent marriages, apart from mental pressure, have multiple ramifications: emotional, financial, mental, our very physical and mental well-being. Further, our society also behaves in such a way that the person, who has been cheated in a marriage is somehow held responsible with an indelible stigma, particularly for a woman. This is the reason sometimes the action of fraud does not come to light.

Although organizations like Canadian Against Immigration Fraud and fraudmarriage.com are active, their voices get suppressed. In the absence of organizational structure especially of financial resources and proper utilization of the resources, they cannot work at their best level. In a society where the trend of organizing valedictory functions to support the leader of all types for their wisdom, personality, colour, creed is abundant, perhaps even excessive, who will discuss social reform?

Today even those who are well educated and comfortably qualify under the skilled workers category and can legally immigrate very easily on their own strength, often prefer marriage as the quickest way to an immigrant's visa. Such weddings of convenience obviously end up in divorce more often than not.

 According to one estimate, more than 3,000 such cases have been registered in Ontario alone. The government should track these cases and send the fraudsters back and, further, should name and shame those found guilty. Canadian Immigration Minister Kenney has said it is very difficult to judge the legality of the marriage as initially the sponsoring spouse claims the person is indeed their legitimate husband or wife; the true intention of the incoming spouse only emerges much later, when it is too late. But the Canadian government now appears to be on its way to taking some really serious and sensible steps to prevent such fraud marriages. How successful they are only time will only tell.

- Surjit Singh Flora, Brampton