An overview of the Việt Nam Migration Profile 2023 launch ceremony. — VNS Photo Thu Trang

HÀ NỘI — A picture of the changing face of Việt Nam, with 860,000 workers going to work abroad under contracts in the six years up to 2023, has been highlighted in a report into how people have migrated into and out of the country.

The Việt Nam Migration Profile 2023 demonstrates the importance of migration data for policy and law making on migration as well as Việt Nam's continuous efforts in migration governance to the benefit to all.

The launch ceremony attracted nearly 80 delegates from ministries, embassies of various countries and international organisations, who actively discussed the outstanding trends of migration in recent years.

The event on Tuesday in Hà Nội was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in coordination with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Speaking at the launch, Nguyễn Minh Vũ, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, assessed that the profile had some outstanding points compared to the two previous migration profiles published in 2011 and 2016.

The new one, for the first time, added analysis of foreign migration flows into Việt Nam, policies and laws related to foreign migration, collected and analysed a system of data and information on international migration with many statistical subgroups.

Nguyễn Minh Vũ, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs. — VNS Photo Thu Trang

The profile of 2023 more fully assessed policies and practices to ensure women's rights during the migration process and provided information and results of the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) of Việt Nam.

Promoting legal migration, preventing and combating migration through unofficial ways, ensuring safe migration, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of migrants, including Vietnamese citizens and foreigners migrating to Việt Nam, had always been Việt Nam's consistent policy, he said.

Vũ affirmed that Việt Nam wished to promote cooperation with countries as well as the United Nations and international organisations to enhance experience sharing in migration management, build and manage a migration data system, promote safe legal migration and minimise vulnerability for migrants.

The Việt Nam Migration Profile 2023 was compiled by the MoFA's Consular Department with participation of different agencies.

It was hosted under the project 'Supporting evidence-based policies and programmes in the context of cross-border mobility in Việt Nam' jointly implemented by the MoFA and IOM with funding from the IOM Development Fund.

The profile synthesises and analyses the migration flows of Vietnamese citizens abroad, the migration flows of foreigners into Việt Nam and policies and laws related to migration in the period 2017-23.

Appreciating the role of migrants in promoting social development and economic growth in Việt Nam and related countries and territories, the profile stated that international migration, if effectively managed, will push up sustainable and socio-economic development of each country, each locality, community and of migrants themselves.

According to the profile, in the period 2017-23, labour migration continues to be the main form of migration in Việt Nam with nearly 860,000 workers going to work abroad under contracts, equivalent to more than 100,000 people sent annually, mostly concentrated in Japan, Taiwan (China) and South Korea.

Migration for study abroad also has a similar increase. There have been no exact figures yet, but the estimated number is currently over 250,000 people, mainly in South Korea, Japan, Australia, the US, Taiwan (China), Canada, China, the UK and Germany.

The proportion of Vietnamese female migrants has tended to increase.

The flow of foreign migration into Việt Nam is also relatively diverse, most notably labour migration with 475,198 foreigners granted work permits from 2017 to 2022.

Mitsue Pembroke, Officer in Charge of IOM in Việt Nam, speaks at the event. — Photo courtesy of the IOM

Mitsue Pembroke, Officer in Charge of IOM in Việt Nam, said that the research, data and findings from this migration profile would undoubtedly assist Việt Nam in formulating appropriate policies to better manage migration.

“In an era when migration questions are becoming more challenging due to economic, cultural, and security events and trends, greater engagement from government and other stakeholders is required to promote a better public understanding of the benefits, challenges, and risks associated with migration,” she said.

“By launching the third comprehensive overview of migration in Việt Nam, the Consular Department is facilitating the important discussions on how to invest in an adequate response to the challenges of migration.”

The Việt Nam Migration Profile 2023 also points out a number of challenges such as ensuring safe migration, preventing illegal migration and human trafficking across borders and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of migrants in the face of alarming online scams of 'easy jobs with high salaries'.

As one of the leading countries implementing the GCM Agreement, through the profile, Việt Nam has demonstrated its strong commitment to providing practical solutions to promote safe migration and the need for evidence-based policy development.

It is an important policy tool, contributing to the improvement of Việt Nam's legal policies on international migration in areas such as labour migration, study abroad, foreign-related marriages, foreign-related adoption and prevention of human trafficking.

It targets to build an international migration management mechanism based on effective coordination and information sharing among concerned ministries and agencies, with close cooperation with countries to protect the legitimate rights and interests of migrants and strengthen the positive aspects of migration for sustainable development. — VNS