Abstract
This is a study about Ma Lang, a poverty-stricken community located in District 1, the economic center of Ho Chi Minh City, that reveals layers of historical and social problems underlying poverty multiplied by the onslaught of the current pandemic. Ma Lang is a community that the new government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam created to temporarily shelter the returnees to the City from the rural and mountainous areas following the end of the Vietnam War. Many of them were homeless and vagabonds. The community has been also the destination for migrant workers who move to the city with the belief that they would find jobs in this fastest-growing city in the country. The community, still called a temporary shelter, has come to house thousands of households. The common characteristics of the residents are: 1)the majority work in informal sectors, giving them only limited access to welfare policies such as health and other social insurances; 2)many elderly work as the main caregivers for their extended families; 3)having a persistent debt is their way of living; 4)the existence of an informal economy of its own persists within the community catering to each other’s need; and 5) most are ill-prepared for contingencies, especially those of the Covid-19 scale. This study of Ma Lang sheds light on the profound impacts of the legacies of the War and the collateral damage of the current and rapid economic growth as exhibited by its residents.
Presenters
Le Thao Chi VuAssistant Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Civic, Political, and Community Studies
KEYWORDS
Vietnam War, Displacement, Internal Migration, Economic Growth, Covid-19, Social Protection
