WATERING THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN: THE GROWING - CICRED

TRANSNATIONAL MIGRATION, MARRIAGE AND TRAFFICKING…
6. Reintegration or leaving again?
Statistics collected from the returnees show that, in their opinions,
most find no change (74.6 percent) in the attitudes of their family and
community when returning to Quang Ninh. Some of them (16.4 percent)
even find sympathy and support from the community. In the
opinion of a resource person:
“We think that it’s not serious. Some even support them
[the returnees]. Initially people keep some distance from
them but after we had propaganda activities here [awareness
raising on trafficking], we understand and support
them.”
Nevertheless, this does not mean that reintegration is an easy
process. About 10 percent reported facing degrading rumours, stigma
and discrimination from the community people. “Having been to
China” is a phrase that can immediately bring negative meanings such
as prostitution, “money loving” (which is culturally negative), and
marriage to an “outsider” (also culturally negative). In a group discussion
in Hai Dong, for example, same participants openly expressed
their views about the returnees:
“Here we have many returnees. We know that they returned
from China so we do not want to meet or associate
with them. Some even disdain them… They are often
asked ‘You’ve returned from China, haven’t you?’… Generally
speaking, they must feel shamed to death” (FGD,
Hai Dong).
One major difficulty faced by the returnees in the study is to get
their civil and household registration back upon returning to Quang
Ninh. The first one relates to cultivation land:
“The biggest difficulty for them is that they have no land.
They can stay with their parents or other sisters and brothers,
but they do need their own land to make a living”
(Head of Women's Union).
This problem arises when local authorities learn that someone has
migrated to China and decide to remove this person from the list of
residents. Following this removal, the person also looses all entitlements,
including entitlement to agricultural land. For example, one
informant notes that:
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