New UN publications on internal migration higlight trends and needed actions

17 November 2010 - Migration drives, as well as stems from, a country’s social and economic development. Viet Nam's 2009 Census recorded that 6.6 million people migrated internally in Viet Nam over the 2004-2009 period. This is a significant increase from the 4.5 million internal migrants identified in the 1999 Census. The majority of migrants move to growing urban and industrial areas where employment opportunities exist, such as Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi, contributing to a 3.4 percent urban growth rate compared to 0.4 percent in rural areas.

In response to the growing recognition that these processes - development and migration – go hand-in-hand, the UN in Viet Nam recently published two reports looking at migration trends in Viet Nam. Internal Migration: Opportunities and challenges for Socio-economic Development in Viet Nam provides an overview of the issue, including the capacity of migration to significantly contribute to the socio-economic development and challenges migrants face. The second paper, Internal Migration and Socio-economic Development in Viet Nam – A Call to Action, provides suggestions for appropriate policy interventions to maximize the contribution of migration to socio-economic and human development in Viet Nam and to ensure that the rights of migrants and their families are realized.

Research indicates that many who migrate internally in Viet Nam with the intention of finding work at their destination succeed in finding decently paid work in a safe environment and report that they are satisfied with life after migration compared to before they moved. However, migrants face many challenges and vulnerabilities. For example, migrants can find themselves particularly vulnerable compared to local residents, especially in the labour market. While concentrated in certain sectors, they are subject to less job security or lower paid work, and have no access to social, health and employment insurance if they are not covered by a labour contract.

The impacts - whether positive and negative - of migration in Viet Nam will depend on the political, social and economic environments, along with the behaviours and resources of individual migrants and their households. Government, local authorities and the private sector all have a role to play in creating an adequate environment for migrants, households and society at large to fully benefit from this process.

Concrete actions that can be taken to ensure internal migration contributes to socio-economic development and that the rights of migrants are protected include: generating and collecting more and better data on internal migration to support evidence-based policymaking; reforming the household registration system; ensuring internal migration is safe and migrants are protected in their employment; use of migrant-sensitive planning for urban and industrial zones; and exploration of new ways to leverage internal migration for human development.

To read the full reports, click below:

• Internal Migration: Opportunities and challenges for Socio-economic Development in Viet Nam
• Internal Migration and Socio-economic Development in Viet Nam – A Call to Action

• < Prev
• Next >