Ethnic minorities must be given the opportunity to be more proactive.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lam Ba Nam (University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU Hanoi) - Project leader - speaking - Photo: Manh Khang

The seminar is a meeting and exchange of ideas between scientists and researchers from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU-Hanoi and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU-HCM. The objective of the seminar is to identify problems and propose solutions to implement democracy and rights of ethnic minorities in the current development context of the Southeast Asian region (including Vietnam).

The opinions shared by scientists at the seminar were the basis for the research group from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU Hanoi to carry out the state-level project "Some basic and urgent issues on ethnic minorities in East Asia, Southeast Asia and their impacts on Vietnam", within the framework of the national science and technology program for the period 2016-2020.

Attending the discussion, on behalf of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU Hanoi, there were Associate Professor Dr. Lam Ba Nam - Project Manager - and Dr. Nguyen Van Chieu - Deputy Project Manager.On the side of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, there were Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Ngo Van Le - former Rector; Prof. Dr. Tran Ngoc Them - Director of the Center for Theoretical and Applied Cultural Studies; Dr. Pham Tan Ha - Vice Rector.The workshop also had the participation of scientists who are professors, associate professors, doctors, and teachers currently working in management, teaching and research inside and outside the school.

 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lam Ba Nam - Project Manager - said: "We have surveyed, discussed and shared experiences with scientists at Kunming University (China); surveyed areas along the entire Vietnam - China border, in the Central region we have surveyed and evaluated in Kon Tum. Currently, we want to hear opinions from scientists at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU-HCM".

 According to Associate Professor Dr. Lam Ba Nam, the research team wishes to learn more about issues related to the policies of neighboring countries on ethnic minorities and the impact of these policies on ethnic minority issues in Vietnam.

 “In addition, we hope that scientists will share more about the current situation, what are the basic and urgent issues of ethnic minorities in the Southern region, because each region will have differences. At the same time, forecast the development trends of these issues in the future,” Mr. Nam noted.

 At the seminar, Prof. Dr. Tran Ngoc Them said that according to many of his studies, areas that are less influenced by Chinese, Christian, Islamic, and Western cultures are "heavily negative" - ​​very passive. That is why there are ethnic minorities in remote mountainous areas, when they see foreigners, they retreat deep into the forest. "The problem we need to do is to help ethnic minorities be more "positive" - ​​more proactive in life" - the professor said.

 Meanwhile, Professor, Dr., People's Teacher Ngo Van Le stated that in order to have equality for ethnic minorities, it is necessary to create conditions for them to actively participate in the legislative, executive and judicial processes. The professor believes that all issues in Vietnam are being viewed through the lens of the majority (ie the Vietnamese people), so some policies and guidelines are sometimes not suitable for ethnic minorities.

 According to Associate Professor, Dr. Thanh Phan - Deputy Director of the Center for Vietnam - Southeast Asia Studies, the first thing is to clarify the concept of ethnic minorities, because currently this concept is very imposed.The Associate Professor believes that among ethnic minorities, there are two major concepts that need to be addressed: newly arrived ethnic minorities and indigenous ethnic minorities. The conflict of interests between these two groups is causing many social problems that need special attention.

 Associate Professor Dr. Lam Ba Nam added that the current context raises another issue about the cross-border, transnational relationship of a nation. Many ethnic groups in Vietnam appear in many countries. Super-ethnic communities appear more and more.

Dr. Pham Tan Ha hopes that there will be many seminars and exchanges between scientists held at the School - Photo: Manh Khang