Vietnam recommends solutions to migrant issues at IPU-133

Vietnam has proposed several solutions to migration, which has become a global issue, at the 133 rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-133) currently taking place in Geneva, Switzerland from October 17 to 21.

International migration has become a major concern around the world amidst comprehensive integration and globalisation. Representatives of IPU member parliaments focused on the matter and adopted an urgent resolution on protecting migrants through international conventions and humanitarian law on October 20.

Addressing an IPU-133 plenary session, Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly’s Committee for External Relations Tran Van Hang emphasised that international migration greatly impacts the socio-economic and cultural development of each country. Not a single nation is an outsider or can solve the matter on its own.

Boosting international cooperation in migration management is urgently needed, and a number of bilateral and multilateral mechanisms have been set up to boost international partnerships in migration management, he noted.

While suggesting solutions, he called for the international community’s closer and more comprehensive coordination in resolving the causes of the waves of migrants and refugees.

The United Nations and regional and global organisations should play an important role in coordinating efforts to help countries improve their socio-economic situations, seeking political and reconciliatory solutions to conflicts and assisting countries heavily affected by migrant crises.

The Vietnamese official also asked countries to have consistent migrant reception policies and to actively contribute to global efforts by receiving refugees and not providing material or weapon support for extremists.

He underlined that countries need to prevent prejudice against asylum seekers and migrants in order to tackle xenophobia and challenges to social connectivity.

Hang delineated that countries can enhance dialogues and cultural exchanges between local communities and migrants while creating favourable conditions for legal immigrant integration. In exchange, migrants must adhere to local laws and fulfil the obligations of host nations.

Bolstering international cooperation to manage migration effectively for the sake of sustainable development is the Vietnamese Government’s top focus, he stressed, adding that Vietnam pledges to eradicate human trafficking through various measures. It will offer the best possible conditions for legal immigrants to reside, work and study there.

He said the Southeast Asian nation is an active member of many regional and global forums in the sphere such as the Bali Process on people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crime, the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking, and the Global Forum on Migration and Development.

It has also worked closely with foreign international organisations in the field, such as the International Organisation for Migration and Development, the International Labour Organisation, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Hang added.

Apart from migration-related matters, parliamentarians at the IPU-133 also appraised terrorism prevention and adopted resolutions on democracy and protecting privacy and individual freedoms in the digital era.

Founded in 1889 in Paris and headquartered in Geneva, the IPU is the largest inter-parliamentary organisation that gathers 167 parliaments of sovereign states.-VNA