TTLV: Cross-border labor migration of the Ngai people in Luc Ngan, Bac Giang

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS

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 student admission No. 3215/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH dated December 31, 2014, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in the training process: None

7. Thesis title:Cross-border labor migration of the Ngai people in Luc Ngan, Bac Giang

8. Major: Anthropology Code: 60.31.03.02

9. Scientific supervisor:Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van ChinhDepartment of Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

10. Summary of the thesis results:

1) This thesis is developed on the theoretical basis of the role of "push and pull factors" and "social networks" in migration to understand the spontaneous movement of labor migration to China in search of employment. The main findings of the thesis show that since the normalization of relations between Vietnam and China and the border opening policy, a trend of free labor migration to seek employment in China has emerged. In this trend, ethnic groups living along the northern border region, especially the Ngai people, have taken advantage of employment opportunities and their social networks to promote cross-border free migration.

2) The Ngai people in Bac Giang, including groups speaking Ngai and Khach, a Chinese dialect prevalent in Guangxi and Guangdong, are still registered as ethnic Chinese. This group migrated into Vietnam via the border into the former Hai Ninh province (now Quang Ninh) during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and then gradually migrated northward, including the provinces of Bac Giang, Thai Nguyen, and Lang Son, before migrating south in 1954. In 1978-1979, due to the border war, many Ngai families returned to China and were employed 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 utilize in their migration strategy to find work in China. The three most important factors that make up the social network of the Ngai people are language, kinship ties, and ethnic ties. Our research shows that most Ngai workers have used these ties to seek employment in China.

3) Family ties, acquaintances, and the ease of communicating in the local language have opened up many job opportunities for the Ngai people in China, while in Vietnam, the pressure of poverty and the need to improve their lives have become pressing for laborers. Migration in search of work is seen as a new survival strategy for many Ngai families in Bac Giang. However, it must be emphasized that in this type of free labor migration, besides the two factors of pressure and social networks, intermediaries between laborers and employers play a particularly important role. They organize migration, negotiate wages, and directly manage labor according to the employer's requirements, even paying wages on behalf of the employer and helping workers retain their wages until the work is completed. To date, 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 harvesting sugarcane, working as factory workers, and freelance services such as loading and unloading goods, transporting goods, and construction work. These jobs, although extremely arduous and physically demanding, offer wages two to three times higher than similar jobs in Vietnam. Furthermore, the shortage of unskilled labor in Chinese plantations and factories attracts unemployed Vietnamese workers. Employers often facilitate migrant workers by providing housing and food. In this relationship, the employer usually holds the upper hand, while the worker remains in a passive and precarious position, facing competition or unemployment due to the lack of any legal binding agreements between employer and employee. This is a fundamental weakness in the free labor migration system, making workers' rights vulnerable to infringement at any time.

5) The main motivation behind the free labor migration of the Ngai people in Bac Giang is the pressure of poverty and unemployment. To obtain work, they accept all possible risks, even resorting to illegal border crossings. Under such conditions, Ngai workers in China constantly face many dangers, including the possibility of being deported at any time if discovered by Chinese police. Furthermore, the lack of legal ties between employers and workers, between laborers and brokers, and the vulnerable position of the workers make them easy targets for criminal gangs and robbers. However, the reality is that the lives of Ngai families with workers in China have improved significantly thanks to the money they earn from their work there.

11. Practical applications:

This thesis serves as a valuable reference for researchers studying labor migration, cross-border migration, transnational relations, and is particularly relevant for policymakers and managers involved in transnational labor migration, employment, and social security.

12. Future research directions:

There are issues that require further in-depth research, particularly 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 18^th, 19^thand the early 20^thcenturies 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