On April 19, 2007, ARENA co-hosted “Migration and Marriage in Asia,” a workshop aimed at raising awareness about the marriage migration phenomenon in Vietnam, while building partnerships with local Vietnamese NGOS and other international organizations. ARENA Program Convener (“Three-year cooperation among marriage-migrant groups for new citizenship of marriage-migrant women in Asia--Marriage Migration in Asia”) Le Thi Quy first initiated the event in coordination with the Center for Gender and Development (RCGAD) and Hanoi University for Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH). The workshop was part of ARENA’s Marriage Migration in Asia program, the first of its kind to be held in Vietnam on the marriage migration issue.

ARENA plans to host a regional school this November in Ho Chin Minh City, Vietnam involving diverse activists, researchers, and service providers who work with marriage migrant women in both sending and receiving countries 
 
Over 110 members participated in the workshop, including members of local Vietnamese NGOs, international NGOs, the Vietnamese government office, the Australian Embassy, and five ARENA fellows (Le Thi Quy, Maureen Pagaduan, Neng Magno, Jungok Lee, Francis Daehoon Lee, and Jiyoung LeeAn (Program Officer).
 
The workshop began at 8:30 a.m. with welcoming remarks from Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, RCGAD, Le Thi Quy (ARENA fellow), and Francis D. Lee (ARENA Executive Director) and ended at 5 p.m. A total of 14 presentations were presented, followed by hot and active floor discussions afterwards.(See the whole text)

Le Thi Quy, ARENA fellow and director of RCGAD


Francis D. Lee, ARENA executive director

 The workshop included four sessions. In the first session, three keynote speeches were presented. Nguyen Manh Te, Government Officer of Ministry of Public Security, presented the first speech, “The Policy of Vietnam on Prevention of Human Trafficking.” In it, he explained the Vietnamese government’s policy on human trafficking based on Vietnamese laws Jungok Lee, ARENA co-chair, presented the second speech entitled “Overview of the Situation of Marriage Migration in Asia,” based on ARENA co-chair Kinhide Mushakoji’s initial paper. In her presentation, Lee advocated a regional perspective to marriage migration and presented several questions to focus on when dealing with the issue in Asia (See the whole text)The third speech, “Migration, Marriage and Trafficking in Women from Vietnam to China - History of Issues and the First Project” was presented by Dang Canh Khanh, Director of the Institute for Youth Studies. Based on his own research, he introduced cases of empowerment from women who were victims of trafficking

Session 1: Key note speakers

 During the second session, four speakers presented. The first presenter, Bruce Andrew from IOM, gave a brief overview of IOM’s role in this issue. The second presenter, Vu Ngoc Binh from UNIFEM Vietnam, explained the general situation of migration, including marriage migration in Vietnam, and introduced international conventions related to it. The third presenter, Neng Magno from ARENA, presented “Migrant Workers, Migrant Brides, Concerns and Challenges” based on her own experiences in Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Bangkok (See the whole text). The forth presenter, Billo Andrew, IOM in Ho Chi Minh City, presented on international marriage between Vietnamese women and Korean men with specific statistics and examples

Session 2 speakers

 Session 3 was divided into two sessions but proceeded as one session due to time restrictions. The first presenter in Group 1, Duong Thi Xuan from Vietnam Women’s Union, explained her organization’s activities in preventing the trafficking of women and children in Vietnam based on government policies. The second presenter, Dinh Van Quang from the National Committee for Population, Family and Children presented “Vietnamese Women’s Marriage with Taiwanese Men”. The third presenter, Jiyoung LeeAn from ARENA, gave her presentation entitled, “Transition into a New Perspective: From Passive Victims to Diverse Agent Subjects” (See the whole text). The forth presenter, Le Ngoc Van from Gencomnet, also presented.

 Session 3, Group 1 speakers

 The first presenter in Group 2, Session 3, Sumie Arima from Action Aid International Vietnam, introduced her organization’s activities, including programs with receiving countries like Taiwan. In addition, she introduced questions, such as “How do we define human trafficking” The third presenter, Kim Anh from Oxfam Quebec, presented about Oxfarm Quebec’s activities against human trafficking.

Sumie Arima, Action Aid

Session 3, Group 2 speakers

 After each session finished, active and enthusiastic discussion followed. One participant requested other participants to set the following steps after the workshop: developing an action plan in sending and receiving countries, raising public awareness, and providing a hot line. Some participants suggested developing ways to help Vietnamese women have safer and happier marriages.

active and enthusiastic discussion time