Head of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Vietnam Kendra Rinas emphasized that Vietnam is among the very few countries with a national plan to implement the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).
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| Head of IOM Mission in Vietnam Kendra Rinas. (Photo: Thu Trang) |
On the sidelines of the Review Conference on the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in Hanoi on December 18, IOM Chief of Mission in Vietnam Kendra Rinas shared her thoughts on Vietnam's efforts to promote safe migration as well as IOM's commitment to accompany this process.
Could you share your thoughts on Vietnam's efforts to effectively implement the GCM Agreement?
Although I have only been in Vietnam for about 5 weeks, I have been extremely impressed with the work that the Vietnamese Government has done to implement the GCM Agreement.
Vietnam is among the very few countries that have a national plan to implement the GCM. This is a multifaceted agreement that requires the participation of many agencies, ministries, sectors, and localities to work together to promote safe migration and prevent and combat human trafficking.
One of the highlights in Vietnam's implementation of the GCM Agreement is the passing of the Law on Vietnamese Workers Working Abroad under the amended Contract (Law No. 69) in 2020 and recently, the National Assembly passed the Law on Prevention and Combat of Human Trafficking (amended). In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently published the Vietnam Migration Profile 2023. These are all very important policies. In particular, the migration profile can provide data to help legislative bodies formulate policies to promote safe migration.
In addition, at today's event, we can see that at the provincial/municipal level, localities also have their own plans to promote safe migration and push back illegal migration. I have heard localities share and discuss ways to communicate to help people better understand the risks of illegal migration, and at the same time promote labor programs to help people find legal labor programs that are suitable for them.
IOM commits to work with all Government agencies, down to provinces/cities and localities, to help Vietnam effectively implement the GCM Agreement.
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| The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released the Vietnam Migration Profile 2023. (Source: IOM) |
Could you tell us some of the support IOM has provided to Vietnam in the implementation of the GCM Agreement?
As I have shared, unified coordination from the central to local levels is the key factor to implement the GCM Agreement.
Therefore, IOM has supported Vietnam in capacity building training for central and local officials, helping them better understand migration and safe migration, and finding ways to effectively manage migration and promote safe migration locally. In addition, IOM also supports localities in communication work on safe migration and preventing and combating human trafficking.
Another important thing is that IOM has supported the Vietnamese Government in creating forums, bringing all agencies, ministries, departments and sectors working on migration together to discuss and share advantages and difficulties, thereby coming up with effective methods to promote safe migration.
We also support Vietnam in dialogues with countries on migration issues, especially those that share borders with Vietnam such as Cambodia; connect Vietnam with partners such as the Japanese Government, the Korean Government to discuss contracted migrant workers; or the UK to find solutions to reduce unsafe migration.
According to you, what measures should Vietnam promote in the future to more effectively implement the GCM Agreement?
In my opinion, Vietnam needs to pay attention to the challenges posed by the presence in the region of criminal gangs that defraud people with easy jobs, high salaries and exploit their labor.
To overcome these challenges, we need programs like today's Conference, where all agencies, ministries, departments and sectors come together to share information, discuss and find initiatives to push back illegal migration, and prevent migrants from falling into the trap of being trafficked or exploited for labor. At the same time, Vietnam needs to strengthen communication so that everyone understands about migration and safe migration.
The most important thing to establish policies to promote safe migration is to build a comprehensive database on migration, to have a more comprehensive view of this issue. Based on that data, legislators can come up with better policies to promote safe migration.
Vietnam has now built a database through the Migration Profile and I also encourage you to continue to implement and maintain this initiative to help establish better policies for migrants.
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| Conference to review the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration on December 18 in Hanoi. (Photo: Thu Trang) |
As you shared that you have just started working in Vietnam not long ago, what will be your priorities during your time here as IOM Chief of Mission?
First of all, I must affirm that we currently have a very good relationship with the Vietnamese Government agencies thanks to the staff of the IOM Mission. Therefore, my goal is to support my colleagues to be able to strengthen and tighten the existing relationship and continue to support the Vietnamese agencies, departments and sectors to learn about the challenges we are facing and to implement the work to promote safe migration.
One of my priorities is to support Vietnam in further strengthening cross-border cooperation and ensuring the rights of migrant workers.
We all understand that migration brings great benefits because migrants will send remittances to their home country and contribute to the development of the host country as well as their home country. But at the same time, migrants also face many challenges such as human trafficking and being tricked into places of labor exploitation.
Therefore, my overall goal as IOM Chief of Mission is to help Vietnam combat this problem.
Thank you!
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| IOM Chief of Mission Kendra Rinas (5th from right) hopes to support Vietnam in further strengthening cross-border cooperation and ensuring the rights of migrant workers. (Source: IOM) |
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