Vietnam’s policies and the role of the country of origin in the integration process of migrant workers in the EU

ABSTRACT

The European Union has become a new ideal destination for Vietnamese migrant workers in recent years, but with this comes challenges in integrating into the labour market and society of host countries. Integrating third-country migrant workers has been a top priority in the EU’s policies for many years, and the role of the country of origin in the integration process of migrant workers is also increasingly being recognized. This article focuses on the role of the country of origin and analyses Vietnam’s current policies to see whether they support the integration process of Vietnamese migrant workers into the EU. Based on the evaluation, recommendations are made to strengthen Vietnam’s legal mechanisms to enhance the effectiveness of the integration process for Vietnamese migrant workers.

KEYWORDS:

• Integration
• country of origin
• migrant workers
• policies
• Vietnam
• European Union

Acknowledgements

The author specially thank Prof. Dr. Hajdú József, Head of the Department of Labour Law and Social Security, University of Szeged, for his useful feedback on a draft of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The term ‘third-country national’ is used as defined by the European Commission and refers to a person who is not a citizen of the European Union and is not entitled to free movement, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/pages/glossary/third-country-national_en

2 Eurostat statistical data, 30 March 2022. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20220330-

3 The Tampere (1999), The Hague (2004) and Stockholm (2009) European Councils.

4 In some other official documents, it is also known as Law on Contract-Based Vietnamese Overseas Workers 69/2020/QH14. See https://www.ilo.org/dyn/migpractice/migmain.showPractice?p_lang=en&p_practice_id=208.

5 Law on Vietnamese Guest Workers No. 69/2020/QH14 was issued to replace the Law on Vietnamese Guest Workers No. 72/2006/QH11.

6 The legal system of Vietnam exhibits characteristics of socialism, with the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam serving as the highest authority of the Party. This bureau possesses the authority to provide directives on the overall direction of the government and issue top-level policy documents.

7 ‘Overseas Vietnamese' (Người Việt Nam ở nước ngoài) is the term used for the community of migrants who go abroad to study or unite with their families.

8 See above General policies on integration for Vietnamese migrant workers.

9 For more, see Directive No. 16-CT/TW dated 8 May 2012 of the 11th Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam on ‘Strengthening the leadership of the Party in sending Vietnamese workers and experts to work abroad’.