MASTER'S THESIS INFORMATION
1. Student's full name:Luong Thi Trang
2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: April 18, 1991
4. Place of birth: Bac Giang
5. Decision on recognition of students No. 3215/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH dated December 31, 2014 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
6. Changes in training process: No
7. Thesis topic name:Cross-border labor migration of the Ngai people in Luc Ngan, Bac Giang
8. Major: Anthropology Code: 60.31.03.02
9. Scientific instructor:Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Chinh, Faculty of Anthropology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
10. Summary of thesis results:
1) The thesis is developed on the basis of the theory of the role of "push and pull factors" in migration and "social network" to study the spontaneous movement of labor migration to China to find work. The main findings of the thesis show that since the normalization of Vietnam - China relations and the policy of opening the border, a movement of free labor migration to find work in China has been formed, in which ethnic groups living along the northern border area, especially the Ngai people, have taken advantage of job opportunities and their social networks to promote the movement of free cross-border migration.
2) The Ngai people in Bac Giang, including groups speaking Ngai and Khach, a Chinese dialect common in the Guangxi and Guangdong regions, are still listed as Chinese. This group migrated to Vietnam across the border into Hai Ninh province (old), present-day Quang Ninh, around the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and then gradually migrated to the North, including the provinces of Bac Giang, Thai Nguyen, Lang Son and migrated to the South in 1954. In 1978-1979, due to the border war, many Ngai families returned to China and were sent to work in tea plantations and Chinese companies in Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi. This migration history has created an important social network that the Ngai people can effectively use in their migration strategy to find work in China. The three most important factors that make up the Ngai social network are language, kinship and ethnic relations. Our research shows that most Ngai workers have used these relations to find jobs in China.
3) The relationships of relatives, acquaintances, and the convenience of communicating in the local language have opened up opportunities for the Ngai people to find many jobs in China, while in Vietnam, the pressure of poverty and the need to improve their lives have become urgent for workers. Choosing to migrate to find work is considered a new survival strategy for many Ngai households in Bac Giang. However, it is necessary to emphasize that in this type of voluntary labor migration, in addition to the two factors of pressure and social networks, the intermediary between workers and employers plays a particularly important role. They organize migration, negotiate wages, and directly manage workers according to the employer's requirements, even paying wages on behalf of the employer and helping workers keep their wages until the job is completed. Up to now, migration brokers have been little studied, and the case of the Ngai people in Bac Giang has shown the prominent role of labor brokers.
4) The main types of jobs that migrants find in China are planting and cutting sugarcane, working in factories, and freelance services such as loading, transporting goods, and construction workers. Although these jobs are extremely hard and heavy, they bring in salaries 2 to 3 times higher than the same type of job in Vietnam. In addition, the shortage of simple labor in plantations and factories in China has attracted idle Vietnamese labor. Employers often create conditions for migrant workers to work by supporting housing and food. In this relationship, the employer is often in the proactive position and the employee is always in a passive and precarious position when facing competition or lack of work because there are no legal constraints for employers and workers to comply with. This is a fundamental weakness in the activities of freelance labor migration, making the rights of workers vulnerable to being violated at any time.
5) The main motivation for the spontaneous migration of the Ngai people in Bac Giang is the pressure of poverty and unemployment. In order to get a job, they accept all possible risks regardless of illegal migration across the border. In such conditions, the Ngai people working in China always face many dangers, including the possibility of being deported back to their country at any time if discovered by the Chinese police. In addition, the lack of legal ties between employers and workers, between workers and brokers, as well as the fragile position of workers make them easy prey for gangs and robbers. However, it is a fact that the lives of Ngai families with workers in China have been greatly improved thanks to the money they earn from working for hire in China.
11. Practical application:
The thesis is a reference source for researchers on labor migration, cross-border migration, transnational relations and is especially meaningful for policy makers and managers of transnational labor migration, employment and social security.
12. Further research directions:
There are issues that need further research, especially the migration history of the Ngai people, the reality of poverty and the changing survival strategies of the Ngai people in rural areas.
13. Published works related to the thesis: None
INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS
1. Full name: Luong Thi Trang 2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth: April 18, 1991 4. Place of birth: Luc Ngan, Bac Giang
5. Admission decision number: 3215/2014/QD-XHNV-SĐH Dated December 31, 2014 rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
6. Changes in academic process: None
7. Official thesis title: “Vietnam-Sino cross-border migration of the Ngai labors in Luc Ngan District, Bac Giang Province”
8. Major: Anthropology. Code: 60.31.03.02
9. Supervisors: Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Chinh, The Department of Development Anthropology, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
10. Summary of the findings of the thesis:
1) The thesis is based on the theoretical perspectives of the push and pull factors, and the social network of the migrants, aimed at exploring the free labor movement from Vietnam to China in search of employment. The main findings indicate that the free labor crossing the border for work emerged since the normalization between Vietnam and China in the early 1990s. In this movement, ethnic groups living along the borders with China find their opportunities and social network to cross border for employment. It is the Ngai ethnic who takes more advantages thank for their available network based on the language, kinship relations and ethnicity.
2) The Ngai in Bac Giang, including the sub-groups speaking Ngai and Khach dialects, recently registered as the Hoa people, arrived in Vietnam in the 18th, 19thand the early 20thcenturies from Guangxi and Guangdong Province in China. They first landed in former Hai Ninh Province and moved gradually to Bac Giang, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen and other northern upland provinces, and the rest migrated to the South of Vietnam in 1954. During the Huaqiao crisis and border war in 1978 and 1979, a number of Ngai families left the country and took departure for China. Most of them were sent to work in tea plantations and workshops in Guangdong and Guangxi. These historical migrations created for the Ngai an international network crossing the borders. The Ngai laborers have make use of these relations to heading China for searching the employment.
3) While the kinship relationship, acquaintances and language skill (speaking similar dialects) open the opportunities, life hardships in rural Bac Giang create strong pressures to push the Ngai labor on the move. And they chose to cross border to China as a strategy for survival. It should however emphasize that the labor brokers are the most important factor facilitating the cross-border migration among the Throne. These brokers organized migration, take care of workers, even help to distribute salaries for workers. They do have a profound role that needs to investigate further.
4) The main type of employment for migrants is to grow and harvest sugar cane and Chinese plantations along the border. In addition, more jobs can also be found in family/local workshops or services. These overloading jobs are hard but the workers can earn double higher than the same type of jobs they did in Vietnam. The demand for labor in China absorbs Vietnamese workers, but also raised a number of concerns, the first and foremost are the security, exploitation and health issues. The workers are in a hazardous position as they work without legal constraints and not protected by local laws because of their illegal status. This is the biggest weakness of the migrants while crossing illegally to find work in China.
5) The free movement of labor migration of the Ngai in Bac Giang is motivated by the pressure of poverty and unemployment in the rural area. They dare to ignore the legal regulations of border control, and therefore, facing difficulties and risks as they can be chased home any time. Besides, the labor relation between workers and their employers has no legal constraints, therefore putting the laborers into the hazardous position which could be the targets of exploitation and robots. The earnings from work abroad however become an important source for living improvement at home.
11. Practical applicability, if any:
The finding from this research could be useful for those who are interested in labor migration policy making in terms of social security for the migrants.
12. Further research directions, if any:
The historical migration of the Ngai and their ethnicity as well as the state of poverty among the Ngai needs to be further analyzed.
13. Thesis-related publications: none
Newer news
Older news
