At a quarantine facility in Tam Nong district, northern Phu Tho province, Where he’s been since last week, 32-year-old Trong Trinh feels relieved to finally be home after covering 1,700 kilometers on his motorbike from HCMC.
Looking at the images of seas of migrants from Ho Chi Minh City and its neighboring provinces sleeping on the streets and risking everything to get home amid the pandemic, he cannot believe he was one of the between them.
“I am fortunate to arrive home safe and sound and look forward to seeing my parents this week as I haven’t seen them for three years.”
He previously worked in a shoe production company in Binh Tan district of HCMC, but he has no idea what he will do for a living at home, where his parents are farmers and his wife works in a fish processing company.
Since HCMC lifted its long lockdown and resumed socio-economic activities on October 1, tens of thousands of migrant workers have left, facing an uncertain future with limited employment opportunities.
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A family of migrant workers returns home with their child, October 2021. Photo by VnExpress / Vo Thanh |
Many returnees cannot hide a sigh of relief when they reunite with their families and leave their struggle with the pandemic behind.
“The most difficult time is now over, from our safety during the pandemic to returning home. I will rest for a while before I see what I can do for a living,” said Nguyen Thi Tu from the southern province. by Tien Giang.
Pictures showing their plight, sleeping on sidewalks, driving or walking in the scorching sun or heavy rain for days, have gone viral in recent days.
“I wanted to see my family and have home cooked meals with them during the Saigon lockdown, now things have become real,†Tu said.
Exhausted by the extended lockdown, many know their hometown, where their families make a living from farming, could provide a safety net amid the pandemic.
Expressing the same happiness at being at home, Nguyen Tan Tao and his wife, who are in a quarantine center in northern Lao Cai province, said, “There may be nothing to do in Lao Cai, but at least we won’t go hungry here. “
Tao could find a job as a mechanic. His wife, who worked as a seamstress in Binh Duong Province, said she would support her family by growing winter vegetables.
Many people who practically risked their lives to return face stigma in their communities, cannot find jobs at home, while struggling to adapt to the rapid changes of recent times.
“Job losses in urban areas could push families back to rural areas which offer limited employment opportunities as well as access to basic social services,” the United Nations said in a report last year. on the social impacts of Covid-19 on Vietnam.
The International Labor Organization warned that migrant workers would face increased unemployment upon their return home and their families would suffer from the loss of their monthly remittances.
The pandemic has had a huge negative effect on jobs across the country. In the first nine months of 2021, the unemployment rate was 2.67%, 2.15% in rural areas and 3.58% in urban areas.
In Gia Lai province, in the central highlands, where around 17,000 workers have returned in recent months, many returnees are struggling to find new jobs, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalides and Affairs. social.
Le Thi Na, who returned from Binh Duong in August, said, “After months of unemployment, I have almost nothing left. I applied to local factories, but they all told me to wait until the pandemic is under control “.
Echoing her opinion, Nguyen Thi Diu, who returned from Binh Duong in Kim Bang district in northern Ha Nam province, said she would look for a new job right after the quarantine ended.
“I left my hometown because agricultural work in Ha Nam could not provide enough money to support my family, but now I have come back to where I started.”
The UN warns that if migrant families cannot earn enough in rural areas, it will be increasingly difficult for them to care for children, the elderly and people with disabilities.
Many also face the stigma, being labeled as carriers of the virus.
Diu said her mother had warned her that their neighbors would not be welcoming.
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A man takes a roadside nap in northern Phu Tho province on a 1,700-kilometer return journey from southern Binh Duong. Photo from VnExpress |
The changes in life have also caused many people to struggle in their hometowns.
Diu and his family of three will stay temporarily at his brother’s house, where his parents also live.
“I don’t know where to live now, it’s embarrassing to suddenly live in another house. But we’ll settle down and find a place to rent soon,” she said, adding that her seven-year-old son will have to also change schools.
“But I didn’t think about it – too many things to worry about now.
Others have tried to return to the cities following the lifting of the blockades to find jobs, but are blocked by procedures and a lack of transport.
Trinh, a former worker from HCMC, said: “I am finding a temporary job in Tam Nong to settle down. I will return to Saigon when things return to normal – there are myriad job opportunities there. -low.”
