The UNFPA’s Country Representative, Ian Howie, made the warning at a workshop in Hanoi on December 22.

He said rural migrants have become an important workforce in cities, contributing to economic development not only in their resident cities but also in their home villages.

Surveys delivered by the population watchdog at the workshop showed that the migration trend, especially among rural females, has culminated in the recent past when the country shifted from a State planning to a market economy.

Population experts explained that migration has brought them opportunities for better incomes and predicted that the trend will continue in the near future.

Migrants, however, face numerous disadvantages in both daily life and job opportunities due to administrative and financial barriers. Only a small number of migrants come to see doctors or utilise medical services.

Policy makers were urged to develop a strategy towards municipal economic and services development such as better water supply and health care for migrants and to streamline procedures for registering temporary residency.

Population experts emphasized the need to speed up the industrialisation and modernisation process to improve rural living conditions in an effort to control migration.

They, however, warned policy makers against the problem of fast urbanisation, citing the dwindling of cultivated land as well as the degradation of water resources and the environment.

These factors should be thoroughly considered in making plans to cope with the increasing trend of migration, experts said at the workshop.