Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a plan to support free migration for Vietnamese returning from Laos to settle in Viet Nam.

The plan will be carried out in 10 provinces that border Laos including Dien Bien, Son La, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Kon Tum, between 2016 and 2018.

The implementation time could be extended if an agreement between the two countries' Governments concerning free migration and illegitimate marriages in the shared border areas are extended.

The plan aims to ensure migrants have adequate accommodation, cultivation opportunities, vocational training, education and healthcare services.

The migrants will be able to integrate into the community soon and stabilise their lives in Viet Nam in the long run.

The beneficiaries are households with at least two members who freely migrated in the shared border regions between Viet Nam and Laos prior to July 8, 2013.

In addition, the migrants were handed over by the Lao Government and accepted by their Vietnamese counterparts.

When returning to Viet Nam and waiting for residential registration, the disadvantaged households will be given VND3 million (USVND3,009,825) each for temporary accommodation, along with 15 kilograms of rice per person per month and VND50,000 per person per month (VND50,164) for healthcare for three months after they arrive in Viet Nam.

Communes receiving the migrants will be given VND50 million (VND50,163,750) each to allocate land for their housing and production while encouraging agriculture, forestry and community development.

After receiving residential registration certificates, the migrant families will benefit from all social welfare policies as regulated.

VNS