THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ASIA CARES FOR MIGRANTS IN TAIWAN

A REPORT FROM THE CHURCH IN VIETNAM

On behalf of the Vietnamese Bishops' Conference, first of all, we would like to send you our warmest greetings. We also would like to thank you for having chosen a “hot topic” that attracts the public attention in Vietnam. Based upon official statistics, there are more than 130,000 Vietnamese people living and working now in Taiwan. This report, however, will focus on the problem of Vietnamese brides in Taiwan.

•  SITUATION

1. An overview

Up to the first months of the year 2004 there have been 75,000 Vietnamese women who married Taiwanese men, which means the highest percentage comparing with other countries in South East Asia. In fact the data clearly reveal that Vietnam is the leading supplier of brides to Taiwan, accounting for 69 percent of the sum of foreign brides other than Chinese.

The great majority of these brides come from the provinces of Mekong Delta such as Can Tho, Vinh Long, and Dong Thap. They come from families that are poor in finance, in education and foreign languages. On the other hand, the majority of Taiwanese whom Vietnamese women got married also come from families that are less educated and poor in Taiwan.

These marriages are contracted not so much as from mutual understanding and love but through the intermediary of international marriage agencies. Their purpose is not happiness of family life, rather their own financial profit. As a result, they can use the means that are against human values and cultural tradition of Vietnam. Based upon statistics, 80-85% Vietnamese spouses in Taiwan have a relatively happy family, but we are not quite sure of this indication. In reality, the findings show that divorce rate among this group is much higher than the Taiwanese average.

2. Reasons

There are many explanations for the phenomenon of Vietnamese brides in Taiwan. One major factor is the setting of Vietnam history. After so many years with the policy of closing the door, Vietnam has decided to open to the exterior world for development. This policy creates the opportunity for economic and cultural exchange between Vietnam and other countries. Inthis setting, economic development is also seen as the main reason of the phenomenon of Vietnamese women getting married with Taiwanese. As mentioned above, the great majority of Vietnamese brides come from poor families. Due to economic difficulties, they want to get married with a foreigner to ameliorate the economic life of theirs and of their families (parents, siblings). Another factor is the cultural one. Comparing with the North, people in the Southern Vietnam are open and not tightly controlled by custom and tradition. Thus the great majority of Vietnamese brides in Taiwan come from the South. At the same time, exist in the Southern Vietnam many Chinese communities that are able to create contact between Taiwanese men and Vietnamese women.

Regarding the Taiwanese men, they can have the feeling that between Vietnam and Taiwan there are a lot of similarities in terms of the people, culture, religion, and way of life. They can also think that Vietnamese women were brought up in patriarchal families, and so they can fit well with the expectation of Taiwanese men and parents. There are also Taiwanese who are interested in searching for brides who are willing to serve other family members.

•  EXPERIENCES

1. Experience on the difficulties of Vietnamese brides

The Vietnamese women who marry Taiwanese men without any prior understanding and relationship, only through the intermediary of marriage brokers, enter an environment that is completely different in culture and language. In fact although being handicapped in language, many of them have made remarkable efforts to realize their expectations of the marriage and the migration. In general, however, living in such an environment, they feel lonely, hardly develop themselves and easily loose their cultural identities. Even though the statistics inform that 80-85% of these marriages have a happy ending, we cannot forget the rest who face with different difficulties and trials in their individual and family lives.

2. Experience on the violation of human dignity

As analyzed, the great majority of Vietnamese brides in Taiwan got married because of financial reason. Morally, it might be a good intention for they want to help their families in Vietnam, but in fact they were turned into an object for sale rather than subjects to be loved and respected. There are Vietnamese women who were cheated to get married with aging bachelors or handicapped persons in Taiwan. Regarding domestic violence, there are also alarming reports. Last year the non-governmental group Pearl S. Buck Foundation Taiwan based in Taipei set up a domestic violence hot line providing nationwide support in five languages, including Vietnamese and Indonesian. They found that 56 per cent of the calls were emergency calls from Vietnamese women. We also have to talk about the Vietnamese women who were forced into prostitution against their will. They were lured by labor export companies and marriage brokers who offerred employment and marriage to Taiwanese but in reality they have been turned in to sex workers. Even the financial profit of theirs and their families are also stolen by these companies and agencies. For the majority of Vietnamese people, it really is a national shame, and so the issue of international marriages is seen very negatively.

3. Experience on the collapse of basic values in family life

In Christian perspective, marriage and family life must be founded on love and free consent which imply monogamy, indissolubility and marital fidelity. These are also the basic values in the Vietnamese cultural tradition regarding family life. In fact, the majority of marriages between Vietnamese women and Taiwanese men are established not by mutual understanding and love but by the intermediary of marriage brokers. As such the basic values of family life are easily violated and destroyed. Moreover, due to the limitation in language and difference in culture, the communication between Vietnamese brides and the members of their husbands' families are so limited, especially the problem of educating children.

4. Experience on the limitations of the Church ministry

In Vietnam, the Church's ministry is concentrated in religious celebrations and activities inside the church. The Church's involvement in social field is so restricted, especially in education and health care. Regarding the issue of Vietnamese brides, until now the Catholic Church in Vietnam has had not an official statistic on the number of Catholic Vietnamese women who get married with Taiwanese men. Based on the Catholic percentage of the whole population, we can guess the number of Catholics is about 5-6% of Vietnamese brides in Taiwan. We are conscious that the ministry of the Church cannot be limited in the service to Catholics but extends to all. Therefore, if possible, the Church in Vietnam needs be involved in this pastoral minsitry.

•  PERSPECTIVES

1. Developing the integral life of the people in the Southern Vietnam

The great majority of Vietnamese brides in Taiwan come from the Southern Vietnam and from poor families. As a result in order to offer an effective solution to this problem, we believe that the Vietnamese authorities need to make their best efforts to raise the people's living standard at all levels: economic, social, and cultural. With the approval of the local authorities, the Church can contribute to this service by offering counseling and education to those who want to get married with foreigners.

2. Acting against women trafficking

Many marriage agencies and brokers that play the intermediary for Vietnamese and Taiwanese marriages only focus on their own profit, thus turn these marriages into a kind of women trafficking, violate human dignity, and undermine the traditional cultural values. Corruption also is a serious factor that needs to be concerned. A number of officials were involved in the flow of overseas workers and brides into exploitative conditions or into trafficking. In the year 2003 there were several cases in which officers in state-owned enterprises were found to have facilitated illegal migration through labor export.

Therefore we make a request to the Vietnamese and Taiwanese authorities to firmly act to prevent all illegal marriage agencies. In Vietnam, there have been some positive signs in regards to this issue. In July 2004, the Vietnamese government issued a national action plan to combat trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation as well as a five-year national program for addressing all aspects of Vietnam's anti-trafficking efforts including prevention, prosecution, and protection. The law also provides for prison sentences of 2 to 20 years for each offence for persons found guilty of trafficking women. In addition, the decree 69/2006/ND-CP dated 21 July 2006 regulates marriage and adoption between Vietnamese citizens and foreigners. Within 20 days after receiving regular marriage papers and fees, justice departments will interview the two parties concerned to check if they are getting married voluntarily, if they are able to communicate in a common language and understand each other. Marriages are illegal if the interview and examination results show that the marriage is supported by illegal matmakers, not in accordance with national customs and morals, a result of women trafficking and for sexual abuse or for other profit making purposes.

3. Toward a pastoral care for Vietnamese brides in Taiwan

As the Church of origin and the Church of destination, the Church in Vietnam and Taiwan must collaborate together closely in caring for Vietnamese brides in Taiwan, to prepare and support them before their departure as well as to help them integrate into a new environment. From Christian perspective, another question at higher level must be raised, which is how to help Catholic Vietnamese brides to integrate fully into the local Church and become agents of evangelization in the environment they will be living.

From our limited experiences in Vietnam, we believe that establishing Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) and Basic Human Communities (BHCs) for Catholic and non-Catholic Vietnamese brides should be a pastoral concern. These BECs and BHCs can offer them a suitable environment to keep their identities, to overcome loneliness as well as to integrate into the society and the local Church more effectively.

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We eagerly want to learn from your pastoral experiences so that we could fulfill Christ' mission of love and service more effectively in our homeland as well as in Asia together with all of you.