Protecting Vietnamese workers overseas

(VOV) -A conference promoting safe migration for Vietnamese workers was held in Hanoi on December 18.

The event—jointly organised by the Department of Overseas Labour, the International Migration Organisation (IMO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO)—introduced participants to some of the Vietnamese progammes informing and protecting the rights and benefits of workers in foreign countries.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) Nguyen Thanh Hoa said about 80,000 Vietnamese people are sent to work abroad every year.

International employment migration is increasingly popular, delivering great benefits to the workers themselves as well as the originating and employing countries, he added.

MOLISA has cooperated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and representative offices in different countries to investigate employment policies, demand cooperative employment agreements, and protect legal rights of Vietnamese workers.

To date, many such agreements have been signed between Vietnam and a number of countries and territories, including Malaysia, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Taiwan (China), Japan, Laos, Qatar, Russia, Bulgaria, and Canada. Some Management Boards of Overseas Labour have also been established to handle problems arising for Vietnamese workers.

IMO representative Jobst Koehler suggested that optimising the benefits of the migration process requires empowering workers to ensure safe migration. They need to be adequately informed about the legal and official channels that can help protect their rights.

The Vietnamese government has passed crucial measures to boost legal employment migration and guard worker safety abroad.

These measures include founding a Migrant Resource Centre (MRC), implementing the ‘Triangle’ project to prevent migrant worker exploitation, and empowering female migrant workers in particular.

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