Survey to improve migrant worker policies (13-06-2008) Workers learn Korean at the Gia Lai Job Services Centre, in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai. The classes are designed to help Vietnamese workers who have jobs in South Korea. — VNA/VNS Photo Sy Huynh HA NOI — A new survey on Vietnamese who work abroad aims to help the Government draft better policies to help migrant workers. Carried out by the Asia Pacific Centre of Hanoi (VAPECHN), the survey will take part in 1,500 households in six provinces and cities, including Ha Noi, Hai Duong, HCM City, Can Tho, Da Nang and Nghe An. Both households with and without members who are migrant workers will take part in the survey, which is expected to be completed by Ha Noi's statistics department by January next year. VAPECHN's deputy director, Dang Nguyen Anh, said though international migrants have a great impact on the country, there was still not enough data on migrants to help the Government issue better … [Read more...] about Survey to improve migrant worker policies
Migrant workers working conditions
Migrant workers throughout Viet Nam lack social welfare
Migrant workers throughout Viet Nam lack social welfare (15-09-2008) Migrant workers listen to natal health care instructions at the Public Health Development Centre in Ha Noi. — VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc HA NOI — A large number of migrant workers in Viet Nam are not benefiting from social welfare, according to Professor Dang Nguyen Anh. "More than 70 per cent of migrant workers don't have benefits of any form at their place of work. Most people don't have labour contracts and 99 per cent of them don't have social insurance or labour accident insurance," Anh said at a recent seminar on social security in Ha Noi. Anh, who works at the Viet Nam Institute of Social Science, said the increasing number of migrant workers and problems emerging from the current social security system were leading to a new group of poor people living in urban areas. Anh's research showed poverty, unstable incomes, price fluctuations, calamities and epidemics were all factors hastening the … [Read more...] about Migrant workers throughout Viet Nam lack social welfare
Companies abuse female migrant workers
Companies abuse female migrant workers (09-09-2009) Many factory workers forced to do extra work without extra pay - and unions often take no action. by Hong Thuy Female migrant workers live in substandard housing in Dong Anh District, Ha Noi. Many avoid asking for pay increases for fear of losing their jobs. — File Photo HA NOI — The fear of losing her job prevents Hoang Mai Khanh (not her real name) from asking the trade union at her company to lobby for her to earn extra pay for extra work. Although she has been working at an electronics company which makes spare parts for four years, Khanh is only paid VND1.7 million (US$94) a month. The low wage is exaggerated by the decline in production due to the global economic crisis, which forced the wholly-invested Japanese company to lay off a number of employees, thereby putting even more pressure on the remaining labourers, such as Khanh, to do more work. Khanh says she has been asked to finish 200 spare parts each … [Read more...] about Companies abuse female migrant workers
UN Women fund for gender equality supports women migrant workers in Viet Nam
(CPV) -The Institute of Community Health and Development organized an Orientation Workshop for their new Project "We are women - A rights-based approach to empowering migrant women in Viet Nam" on August 28th 2013. This project is funded with the budget USD 200,000 by the Fund for Gender Equality (FGE) - a global UN Women fund exclusively dedicated to gender equality and women's economic and political empowerment. Women migrants are facing different vulnerabilities, stemming from their inability, in many cases, to access basic services and attain adequate living conditions; from their differential treatment in the labour market; and from the social stigma attached to them. Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that some migrant women in Viet Nam are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence as they are engaged in domestic work hidden from the outside world and difficult to regulate, although the new Labour Code has recently recognized domestic workers. If these gender issues … [Read more...] about UN Women fund for gender equality supports women migrant workers in Viet Nam
Migrants workers need sex education
VietNamNet Bridge - Nguyen Hong Nhung, a native from northern Nam Dinh Province, has been residing at a boarding house on Ha Noi's Kham Thien Street with her husband and four other couples for many years, working as scrap-iron dealer. Nhung said her work day often ended at 9pm, after which she and her husband only exchanged a few words and went to bed. At her boarding house, migrant workers do not have access to information about reproductive health or disease prevention. Most migrant workers have to live in temporary boarding homes in the city, often in deteriorating conditions. According to studies from the Viet Nam branch of Marie Stopes International — a not-for-profit organisation providing sexual and reproductive healthcare services in more than 40 countries — many people do not seek access to healthcare services because they have limited sexual health education, do not register with health facilities and are under pressure to send any money they save back home. … [Read more...] about Migrants workers need sex education