Vulnerable women from EU ‘forced into sham marriages’

Vulnerable young women from the EU are being targeted and coerced into exploitative sham marriages, it has been claimed.

A study by the Immigrant Council of Ireland examined case studies and conducted interviews with one woman who claimed she had been forced into a marriage of convenience, while also looking at figures provided by Embassies based here and the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration service (INIS).

Its report said there was evidence of “deliberate, organised and systematic recruitment of women”, many of whom were vulnerable and some of whom had a disability.