Create a safe migration environment, protect the rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens

On June 25-26, in Hoa Binh, the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized a training course on safe migration and protection of Vietnamese citizens abroad in both direct and online formats.

Overview of the Safe Migration Training Session on June 25 in Hoa Binh. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

The training course was attended by about 60 delegates from the Ministries of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, National Defense, Public Security, Justice, representatives of departments and branches of 18 localities in the North and Central regions, and IOM. A number of Vietnamese representative agencies abroad attended online.

Speaking at the opening of the training course, Deputy Director of the Consular Department Phan Thi Minh Giang emphasized that in the context of Vietnamese citizens migrating abroad again after the Covid-19 pandemic, it is necessary to accurately assess the migration situation, migration trends and properly resolve issues arising in international migration management, including the issue of fraud working at online fraud establishments in the Southeast Asian region.

Deputy Director of the Consular Department Phan Thi Minh Giang speaks at the training session. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

Therefore, this training course not only provides updated information, assessments and analysis on the migration situation and citizen protection work, but also contributes to strengthening connections and coordination between ministries, branches, localities as well as with Vietnamese representative agencies abroad, creating a safe migration environment, protecting the rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens migrating abroad.

Ms. Park Mi-Hyung, Chief Representative of the IOM Mission in Vietnam, said that according to the organization's World Migration Report 2024, there are currently 281 million international migrants in the world, accounting for 3.6% of the global population, of which Asia is the origin of more than 40% of international migrants.

According to her, in the context of the increasing number of international migrants, the increasingly complex and diverse factors that attract and promote migration, along with the complicated situation of human trafficking crimes with the aim of forcing them to commit crimes in the region, raising awareness about safe migration and enhancing the protection of migrants is more urgent and important than ever.

BỘ NGOẠI GIAO TỔ CHỨC TẬP HUẤN VỀ DI CƯ AN TOÀN VÀ TẬP HUẤN VỀ BẢO HỘ CÔNG DÂN VIỆT NAM Ở NƯỚC NGOÀI

Ms. Park Mi-Hyung, Chief Representative of the IOM Mission in Vietnam, spoke at the training session. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

This is the second training course after the first one organized by the Consular Department in coordination with IOM in Da Nang in August 2023 for ministries, sectors and most of the provinces and cities in the Central region. The training course aims to implement the Plan to implement the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) according to Decision No. 402/QD-TTg dated March 20, 2020 of the Prime Minister.

At the Safe Migration Training Session on June 25, delegates were introduced to the international migration situation in the world, the migration situation of Vietnamese citizens abroad, an overview and orientation of the field of Vietnamese workers working abroad under contracts; practical investigation and handling of cases of citizens being rescued from online fraud establishments.

Delegates also discussed solutions to prevent and protect Vietnamese citizens from the increasing risk of recruitment for labor exploitation at online fraud establishments abroad and future directions to promote safe migration.

On June 26, the Training on Protection of Vietnamese Citizens Abroad provided the international and Vietnamese legal framework on citizen protection, the implementation of citizen protection, and MICIC's standard procedures on protecting migrants in emergency situations.

At the event, delegates also discussed the development and implementation of an inter-sectoral coordination mechanism in protecting the rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens migrating abroad and solutions to strengthen inter-sectoral coordination to protect Vietnamese citizens migrating abroad in a timely and effective manner in the current situation.

Ms. Anny Yip-Ching Yu, expert of IOM Asia-Pacific Regional Office, presented the paper: "Overview of international migration: Global and regional trends". (Photo: Tuan Viet)

Presenting at the two training sessions were experts from the IOM Asia-Pacific Regional Office, IOM Vietnam, the Consular Department, the Department of Overseas Labor Management (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs), the Department of Drug and Crime Prevention, the Border Guard Command, the Vietnamese Embassy in Myanmar, the Philippines, Laos, the Vietnamese Consulate General in Battambang (Cambodia), and the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei (China).

In an interview with The Gioi & Viet Nam Newspaper , Ms. Park Mi-Hyung, Chief Representative of the IOM Mission in Vietnam, said that currently in Vietnam, there is also a trend of labor migration to places where people have better opportunities to find jobs and income. In addition, at the global and regional levels, most migrants move within their own region.

“A lot of Vietnamese people will choose to move within Asia, more specifically East Asia and ASEAN countries. However, Vietnamese people also have aspirations to go global, so we have also seen Vietnamese people going to North America and Europe,” said Park Mi-Hyung.

The IOM Chief of Mission in Vietnam also added that destination countries are facing serious labor shortages, but their migration policies are not open and do not meet the actual needs. For example, a destination country may need 100 foreign workers, but the current legal opportunities are quite limited, only meeting the needs for about 30-40 foreign workers. Therefore, many people have to migrate illegally, overstay or migrate informally.

Assessing Vietnam's efforts and policies to promote legal international migration, Ms. Park Mi-Hyung said that Vietnam has been very active in promoting safe migration as well as making serious efforts to deal with human trafficking.

"The Vietnamese Government has seriously addressed the challenges and is making diverse efforts in many different ways," affirmed the Chief Representative of the IOM Mission in Vietnam.