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THE surge in fake marriage schemes for those who want to go and work in the care industry in the UK is a new low for desperate local job seekers.
So dire is the situation that close relatives, like brothers and sisters, have been caught in the web.
The matter came to light after a whistle-blower alerted the UK authorities that marriage certificates were being forged.
The whistle-blower’s move comes at a time when thousands of Zimbabweans have been lured to work in the UK care industry.
Over the years, migrant communities from all over the world have converged in the UK to work in various industries.
There are big migrant communities in the UK and in London alone, there are about 3 346 000 migrants.
In 2021, there were about 696 000 Poles in the UK, representing the biggest number of migrants, with Indians in second place with about 370 000 of their people living and working in the UK.
The Republic of Ireland were in third place with 370 000 people while there were 340 000 Italians, 342 000 Romanians, 268 000 Portuguese, 206 000 Spaniards, 181 000 from Pakistan, 178 000 Nigerians, 166 000 Americans and 124 000 Chinese, were known for fuelling these schemes which have tainted their image.
So, in a way, there is nothing unique about Zimbabweans moving to work in the UK.
It’s a practice that has been going on, all over the world, for a long time and we just joined a train which has been travelling for some time now.
It’s just like the professional footballers, they come from all over the world to work in England and there are thousands of them in the various leagues.
The only challenge, we believe, comes from fraudulently earning your ticket to work there by deceiving authorities of your real status.
With all due respect, it’s just unacceptable that a brother and sister can masquerade as husband and wife, on marriage documents, just for them to satisfy the requirements to be granted a visa to go and work in the UK.
The whistle-blower was duped by his wife who took their child to the UK, without his consent, and changed her documents, for her to secure a job.
There was no need for all this since there were proper channels to apply for the UK visa.
The woman and child risk deportation if the authorities in the UK find out that they are cheats.
There are also claims that some Zimbabweans are forging Red Cross certificates and St John’s certificates to enable them to qualify for the visas to work in the UK.
This has the potential to tarnish our image even though it’s something being done by just a few people.
There are many Zimbabweans, who qualify for such visas, and they end up being listed among this group of cheats.
These bad apples should be flushed out.
Online Reporter