Statistics suggested that between 1995 and 2007, 180,000 Vietnamese (80 percent of which were female) married people from 60 different countries.

According to Associate rofessor Le Thi Quy, Director of the Research Centre for Gender and Development, Vietnamese marriage emigrants have to confront complicated issues such as the language barrier, disparity in levels of education, differences in culture and customs, limited legal awareness and restricted employment opportunities.

Participants at the meeting agreed that national responses to international marriage migration are mainly restricted to anti-woman trafficking activities, such as investigating suspects, and charging and trying alleged offenders. In some localities, handling the frenzied outflow of people, mostly women, remains above the handling capacity of local authorities.

The Vietnam Women’s Union and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) are working on a programme to assist Vietnamese women who undertake inter-country marriages and provide match-making services to those wishing to find a foreign fiancé. However, the programme has yet to be expanded nationwide.

Meanwhile, communications activities do not seem to fulfill their role in raising awareness for women in remote areas.

At present, the women’s union is joining efforts with the Vietnamese Women’s Culture Centre in the Republic of Korea to implement a trial programme, which aims to provide education, training and counselling services to Vietnamese wives living in the country.

The workshop on “Emigration and Marriage in Vietnam – Problems and solutions” was jointly held by the Research Centre for Gender and Development under Hanoi National University and the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Centre of Osaka University of Economics and Law, Japan.