Between 20 and 23 November 2023, MMN organised a visit to Vietnam, attended by delegates from the Center for Development and Integration (CDI), Vietnam; Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW), Cambodia; and the MMN Secretariat. As the first of three country visits, the Vietnam trip provided the opportunity for MMN members to exchange information on their responses to issues relating to migration to Japan, learn about Vietnam’s regulatory framework as a way to evaluate the different experiences of migration from various Mekong countries of origin, and relay some concerns expressed by migrant to entities in Vietnam that are responsible for enhancing relevant protection mechanisms.

MMN members held separate exchanges with representatives from the Department of Overseas Labour (DOLAB) under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs and the Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS). These meetings provided MMN with important updates on the new initiatives that different stakeholders have undertaken following the implementation of the new Law on Contract-Based Vietnamese Overseas Workers 69/2020/QH14 (Law No. 69) in 2022. MMN members also took the opportunity to inform these representatives about migrants’ views on the high cost of migration to Japan and the challenges of accessing social protection, with the hopes that these concerns will be taken into account in the future development of relevant migrant-support initiatives.

As part of the trip, MMN also organised visits to a recruitment agency and the Migrant Resource Centre in Bắc Ninh province, which offered a more comprehensive picture of the different processes migrants go through before they depart for Japan as well as the types of information they can access. These visits served as a basis for CSOs from different countries to learn how migration processes differ on the ground, and identify good practices that can be applied across Mekong countries of origin.

An important segment of the country visit was the CSO Mutual Sharing Session and the reflection meetings. As international migration (in the case of CDI) and migration to Japan (in the case of LSCW) are relatively new focuses for organisations in the region, the CSO Mutual Sharing Session provided the space for CDI and LSCW to speak about their recent initiatives relating to migration to Japan and learn from one another’s experience. As a case in point, during the meeting, CDI expressed an interest in assuming a greater role in collaborating with different stakeholders on the development of ethical recruitment standards (such as VAMAS’ Code of Conduct) following LSCW’s example in Cambodia. At the same time, LSCW would like to further study CDI’s model of building an extensive network with lawyers who provide direct services to migrant workers.

At the CSO reflection meetings, MMN members shared their thoughts on the exchanges they had with different stakeholders on each day. Some of the highlighted topics that were discussed include:

• The new formula that Vietnam adopted to calculate the maximum recruitment fees charged to workers and whether it can lead to more transparent cost structures;
• The Vietnamese model of making recruitment agencies responsible for delivering pre-departure training, and how this differs from the practices of other countries of origin;
• The need to further investigate whether prospective migrants are required to take a pregnancy test, and who should be responsible for deciding the content of health examinations;
• The different types of support that are provided to migrant returnees coming back from Japan; and
• The need for CSOs in the region to acquire a better understanding of the migration framework in Japan and build stronger ties with Japanese organisations, in order to provide more comprehensive and timely support to migrant workers.