Viet Nam - The Vietnamese Department of Overseas Labour (DOLAB), with the assistance of IOM, has organized a workshop on Reintegration Policies and Services for Returning Migrant Workers.

Funded by the United Nations One Plan Fund (OPF), the workshop shone the spotlight on the specific needs of returning migrants, the gaps in existing support and policy frameworks, and good practice in providing sustainable return and reintegration support.

Following the expansion of Viet Nam’s labour dispatch programme throughout Asia and the Middle East between 2000 and 2011, the number of overseas workers nearly tripled. More than 88,000 labour migrants travelled abroad in 2011 and the government plans to increase this number by 10 per cent a year through 2015.

Foreign currency remittances from overseas workers grew by 16.4 per cent between 2009 and 2010 and amounted to USD 8.6 billion in 2011. Returning migrant workers also brought back new technical and language skills, and an awareness of foreign business practices.

But they also often faced under-employment, debt, social alienation, family conflicts, and health problems related to their migration experience. The workshop was designed to identify gaps and strengthen existing support structures for these individuals.

“The upcoming revision of the Law on Sending Contractual Migrant Workers Abroad, due for debate in the National Assembly in 2015, is the right moment to raise awareness of key stakeholders in order to support an evidence-based and well-informed discussion,” says IOM Viet Nam Chief of Mission Florian Forster.

“Elaborating policies and practices that support migrants who need help after their return home will harness their full potential and is an important element in the further socio-economic development of Viet Nam,” he notes.

As the leading intergovernmental agency working on migration, IOM in Viet Nam works closely with the government, notably the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Public Security, and Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and with mass organizations and civil society partners.

IOM is also an active participant in the One UN Initiative in Viet Nam, which aims to better coordinate the work of resident UN organizations in support of Viet Nam’s development.

For more information, please contact 

Florian G. Forster
IOM Viet Nam
Email: fforster@iom.int
Tel. +84 9 03450196