WOMEN AT RISK : VIETNAMESE MARRIAGE MIGRATION TO TAIWAN

byGraeme Hugo and Hong Xoan Nguyen ThiGeographical and Environmental Studies,

School of Social Sciences,University of Adelaide

Presentation to IGU Conference, Brisbane

6 July 2006

Outline of Presentation

• Introduction

• Marriage Migration in Asia

• Vietnamese Migration to Taiwan

• A Study of Vietnamese Brides

• Vulnerability Among Vietnam’s Brides in Taiwan

• Policy Issues

• Conclusion

Feminisation of Migration within Asia

• Increasing involvement in labour migration- skilled- unskilled

• Strong occupational specialisation

• More exposed to exploitation than men

• Marriage migration – links with labour migration

Increased Marriage Migration

• Increased international travel

• Increasing role of marriage brokers

• Increasing sex ratio differences

- China – 1,000 male births to every 850 female, 2002- India – 1,000 males 0-6 to every 927 females, 2001

Vietnam Taiwan

Population 84 million 23 million

GNP/Capita US$480 US$15,676

Population Growth Rate 1.3 % 0.6%

TFR 1.91 1.57

Migration to TaiwanTaiwan: Number of Foreign Workers by Origin,

1998-2005Source: Lee 2006, p. 15

Sources of Foreign Workers 1998 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 (Nov)

Thailand 133,367 142,665 111,538 104,728 105,281 97,795

Philippines 114,255 98,161 69,426 81,355 91,150 95,515

Indonesia 22,058 77,830 93,212 56,437 27,281 43,839

Vietnam - 7,746 29,473 57,603 90,241 85,528

Malaysia 940 113 35 27 22 13

Mongolia - - - - 59 81

Total 270,620 326,515 303,684 300,150 314,034 322,771

Taiwan: Number and Categories of Foreign Workers, 2000-2004

Source: Lee 2006, p. 15

Year

Total No. of

Foreign Workers

Major Public

Construction

Projects

Major

Investment

Projects in

Manufacturing

Healthcare

Workers Others

2000 326,515 32,572 518 98,508 123,811

2001 304,605 29,619 208 103,780 109,948

2002 303,684 21,191 101 113,755 104,555

2003 300,150 12,747 71 115,724 101,325

2004 314,034 7,763 62 128,223 101,923

Taiwan: Marriages to Foreign Spouses1 1994-2003 Source: Wang and Chang, 2002, 96; Tsay, 2004; Do, et al., 2003, 38

Year China Southeast

Asia Vietnam Total

Percent of all Marriages to Foreigners

1994 7,885 4,899 530 12,784 na

1995 9,180 6,574 1,969 16,754 na

1996 9,349 11,212 4,113 20,561 na

1997 8,951 16,009 9,060 24,960 na

1998 12,451 10,454 5,035 22,905 15.7

1999 17,589 14,674 8,482 32,263 18.6

2000 23,628 21,338 13,863 44,966 24.8

2001 26,797 19,405 12,417 46,202 27.1

2002 28,906 20,107 na 49,013 28.4

2003 35,473 19,643 na 55,116 32.2 1 1994-7 inclusive data are for visas granted to foreign spouses. 1998-2003 data are for registered marriages.

Taiwan Proportion of Births to Foreign Partner

2000 7.6 percent

2002 12 percent

2003 13.4 percent

South Korea

• 2002 11,107 males married foreign brides

• 2004 25,594 males married foreign brides

• 2005 44,416 males married foreign brides

• 2006 60,217 males married foreign brides

• 1 in 4 marriages in rural South Korea to a foreign bride

- China - Mongolia- Vietnam - Thailand- Philippines - Uzbekistan

• 6,444 Korean women married foreigners

Japan

2004 257,292 foreign spouses

Drivers of Marriage Migration

“… is the strong feeling among Taiwanese of the similarity between Vietnam and Taiwan in terms of the people, culture, religion and way of life. It is often mentioned that the appearance and complexion of Vietnamese are close to Taiwanese. They also have similar religious beliefs and ways of ancestor worship. Most critically, Taiwanese have the deep impression that Vietnamese women were bought up in patriarchal families and were socialised well in forming their attitudes toward the family, children, parents and husband.”

Tsay (2004, 185)

Approximate Numbers – 110,000 Vietnamese (Dang) Brides in TaiwanData from Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam Province of Origin of Vietnamese Marriage Migrants to

Taiwan, 1994-2002 Source: Based on data in Do, et al., 2002, 39

• The activities of recruiters are concentrated in particular poor communities where it is believed poverty would make women more ready to engage in marriage migration.

• There are also strong network effects whereby when some women from a community are recruited they act as leaders to others.

Province of Origin of Taiwanese Husbands of Vietnamese Marriage Migrants, 1994-2002

Source: Do, et al., 2002, 39

Other Destinations of Vietnamese Brides

• Southern China

• Singapore

• South Korea

Age-Sex Structure, Vietnam 2000 Source: International Data Base, International Programs Center, U.S. Bureau of the Census

6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0

0-4

5-9

10-14

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70-74

75-79

80+

Ag

e

Per cent

Males Females

Age-Sex Structure, Taiwan Population 2000 Source: International Data Base, International Programs Center, U.S. Bureau of the Census

6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0

0-4

5-9

10-14

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70-74

75-79

80+

Ag

e

Per cent

Males Females

Poverty Rate in the Five Provinces Source: Tran 2004

N Province Poverty rate (%)

1 Tien Giang 30 2 Vinh Long 36 3 Can Tho 40 4 Dong Thap 42 5 An Giang 46

Multicultural Influences in the Mekong Delta

• Khmer

• Chinese

• Indian

• French

• American

History of inter-ethnic marriage

Cultural Factors

• Confucianism

• Male/Female roles

• Filial Piety

Taiwan Investment in Vietnam, 1993-1998 Source: Phan, 2005

Year

Amount (million USD)

Percentage of all Investment Southeast Asia

1993 1583,96 36.52 1994 1083,78 27.24 1995 1081,46 33.16 1996 1004,76 17.11 1997 854,14 13,30 1998 1000,78 21.41

Social Change in Taiwan

“… rural poorly educated males in lack lustre jobs, possibly with unsociable hours and conservative views on what marriage should be … are looking to Mainland China and Southeast Asia for their prospective spouses.”

Eyton (2003)

National University of Ho Chi Minh Study 2004

• Mekong Delta

• 635 rural householders with one or more daughters married to Taiwanese men

• 460 interviews with local youth

• 40 brides in waiting

• 34 returnees visiting

• 8 divorcee returnees

• 28 consultations with leaders

• 23 focus groups

The Process : Commodification of Marriage

• Substantial involvement of intermediaries

• Fee US$7-10,000

• Visit to Taiwan – introduced to several “candidates”

• Role of parents

• Legality

Reasons for Marrying Taiwanese Men (n=630) Source: 2004 Survey

Reason Percent To help the family 61.6 For a better life 10.8 To make parents happy 6.3 Don’t like local men 4.6 Influence of friends 3.7 Other 12.9

Marriage Decision Maker (n=630) Source: 2004 Survey

Decision Maker Percent The Bride 40.5 Parents 33.7 Parents and Bride 23.9 Other 1.9

Age When Married (n=630)Source: 2004 Survey

Age Percent 15-17 0.3 18-22 70.5 23-29 26.0 30+ 3.2

Education of Parents and BrideSource: 2004 Survey

Level of Schooling Parents Bride No schooling 9.4 0.9 Primary 59.0 35.1 Secondary 21.8 50.3 High School 9.7 12.8 Tertiary 0.1 0.9

Occupation of Women after Marriage Source: 2004 Survey

Occupation Percent

After Percent Before

Housework 52.4 16.7 Factory worker 17.9 16.4 Farming 1.6 15.3 Selling 7.3 9.1 Services 2.4 12.9 Other 18.2 29.6

“My husband turned out to be a farmer. I was doing the same work I did in Vietnam. We started at five in the morning and stopped at two. I didn’t speak the language. I missed home and was very lonely.”

Occupations of Grooms Source: 2004 Survey

Servicer and seller in market 77 Worker 244 Business 49 Farmer 39 Driver 67 Owner of a firm 8 Professional worker 53 Officer 30 Director 2 Teacher 4 Unemployed 5 Engineer 19 Total 597

Impact of Migration on Families

• 88.3 percent received remittances

126

261

191

43

107

52

272

238

66

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Very poor Poor Average Above average Rich

Before marriage

After marriage

Living Standards of Households Before and After their Daughters’ Marriages

Source: 2004 Survey

“we see that the families, having daughters getting married to Taiwan males, all have built two, three story houses. They are very happy and enjoy life, they do not have to do hard work because their daughters send money to them very often. Even some of them help poor neighbours and poorer people in the communities” (a discussion in An Giang province).

“before my daughter’s marriage, all members of our family were forced to work very hard, we did a day labour with very low pay so we used to be short of money. But now our lives have changed because my daughter often sends back money. With this assistance we have enough money to send our younger children to vocational school so that they will be able to find a good job later. We are much happier now” (a father in An Giang province).

“ ..very sad , all of the girls move out, so we may stay single our whole life, we are poor and have no money to marry”

“Surveys show that most of them are quite willing to learn Mandarin, the problem is their husbands are often unwilling to pay for them to go to school to do so, and often the language their husbands prefer to use is the far more difficult to learn Minnan, spoken only in Taiwan and China’s Fujian province.”

Eyton (2003)

Problems

• Language barriers

• Isolation and loneliness

• Work exploitation

• Care giving

• Prejudice, homogeneity issues

• “Taiwan Disillusionment”

Returning Home to Divorce

Can Tho Province

1990 – 2000 170 divorces with foreigners

2001-02 253 cases

“I want to work outside to earn money because my relatives in Vietnam need my financial assistance. My child is 6 years old, but my husband does not send him to school because he doesn’t want to spend money for his school. Therefore he wants me to stay at home and take care of the child, while he doesn’t make any effort to help my family.” (A girl from Vinh Long Province)

“When I met him in Vietnam, he said that he had three children and his wife had died, so he was looking for a wife to share housework with him and to look after his children. He did not tell me that two of his children are very sick. When I went to Taiwan, in the evening he brought me to his house and introduced me to his children I was shocked because they were severely disabled. They stay in bed and need a lot of care. It was very hard work, I stayed there 2 years and then decided to go home.” (a women from Can Tho province).

“ Most of the brides cannot get a good job in Taiwan. Not all of the families they go to are rich so they have to work, but because they have no skill, no education and even no language how can they get work? If they get work their employers complain. There are also problems in their work in the home. Some husbands give their wives money to send home to their families.”

“It is my understanding, that the main reason for conflict between Vietnamese brides and their families-in-law is that the ways of life in Vietnam and Taiwan are completely different. The women thought that they would have a better life straight away after they came to Taiwan but Taiwanese families expect a great deal from their daughters-in-law such as earning money to support the family, doing housework and taking care of children and aged family members. When these women are unable to do all of these tasks then conflicts emerge.”

Of 51 Returnee Visitors

89 percent happy with life in Taiwan

14 percent “completely happy”

“When he wants to do something important for the family, he always discusses it with me and he respects my opinion. Related to money, we have only one bank account and he put his income in the account and we spend it together.” (A bride from Thoai Son, An Giang).

“ My father in-law was very happy when my boy was born and he loves him a lot. My husband told me to take care of our son and do housework which is very easy. If I do something wrong my father in law never complains, he only gently shows me how to do it properly. I am very happy with my married life so far.” (A bride from Thoai Son, An Giang).

Conclusion

• Increasing trend

• Increasing commodification of marriage

• Role of industry• Need for more intervention

Intervention Needs

• Regulate the activities of the intermediaries to combat exploitation.

• Provide accurate information to potential brides and their families to help them make more informed decisions about migrating.

• Provide appropriate support systems to the women in Taiwan.

• Facilitate communication and travel between the women and their families of origin.

• Assist their adjustment to Taiwanese society.• Provide protection for them in Taiwan