vietnam human trafficking report

Although the government reports it no longer subjects drug users to forced labor in rehabilitation centers, international organizations and media report authorities continue the practice. Foreign victims, including children, remained at high risk of deportation without screening or referral to protective services. But worst of all, the crime robs human beings of their freedom and their dignity. Vietnam says it "strongly condemns human trafficking," after UK police said they believed 39 people found dead in a lorry were all Vietnamese. Alerts and Messages for U.S. However, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period. Informally, MPS officials estimated the vast majority of identified cases involved transnational trafficking. Coordinator for the Arctic Region, Bureaus and Offices Reporting Directly to the Secretary, Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, Office of the U.S. These missions could provide basic provisions, transportation, and healthcare to Vietnamese citizens subjected to trafficking abroad. • Amend the penal code to criminalize all forms of sex trafficking of 16- and 17-year-old children, consistent with international law. • Vigorously prosecute all forms of trafficking and convict and punish traffickers, including in cases involving forced labor or complicit officials. The United States (US) Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report 2019, states that, in the case of Vietnam, traffickers typically subject victims to forced labour in construction, fishing, agriculture, mining, logging, and manufacturing, and that they are primarily trafficked to Angola, Japan, Lao, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates. These victims were less likely to seek support and were vulnerable to re-trafficking. The law provided compensation for victims, and the government reported victims received compensation in 16 of 20 of the publicly reported trafficking cases during the year. Observers previously reported national authorities did not devote adequate funds for victim protection, encouraging provincial governments to use their own funds for trafficking programs to decentralize further this responsibility, and relied heavily on civil society to provide protection services with limited in-kind support. In 2018, the government reported assisting all 490 identified victims (500 in 2017, 600 in 2016) with initial psychological counseling, healthcare consultations, and legal and financial assistance; the government reported providing an unspecified number of victims with reintegration assistance, including small business loans. The law protected victims from prosecution for unlawful acts traffickers coerced them to commit, but NGOs previously reported victims were less likely to come forward about their abuses in a judicial setting due to fears they may face arrest or deportation for crossing the border without documentation. Authorities did not provide comprehensive data on trafficking offenses disaggregated by type of trafficking, victim age or gender, source, or destination, making it difficult to distinguish anti-trafficking efforts from those for other crimes, including migrant smuggling cases. Some recruitment companies are unresponsive to workers’ requests for assistance in situations of exploitation, and some charge excessive fees that trap workers in debt bondage. The Ministry of Information and Communication and the Women’s Union, along with several provincial, district, and commune-level officials, continued to organize several large-scale public awareness campaigns, reflecting the importance of awareness in the national action plan. Some traffickers pose as police officers on social media networks to gain victims’ trust. International observers noted Vietnamese government officials sometimes considered the exploitation of Vietnamese workers abroad to be the host countries’ responsibility and beyond their purview. But it has not said how many people it is able to rescue each year. The Women’s Union, in partnership with NGOs and with foreign donor funding, continued to operate three shelters in urban cities, including one dedicated to trafficking victims. Civil society reported prosecutions for child sex tourism were rare. The SituationVietnam is a source and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and conditions of forced labor. Join my panel! Vietnam Anti-Human Trafficking Legislation & Track Record The United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking's 2010 SIREN report for Vietnam describes Vietnam's legislative tools to counter human trafficking, trafficking data and trends, actions taken, and key players in the counter-trafficking effort. Labor recruitment firms—most affiliated with state-owned enterprises—and unlicensed brokers reportedly charged workers seeking overseas employment higher fees than the law allows; those workers incurred high debts and were at heightened risk for forced labor, including through debt-based coercion. While the government completed the resolution providing guidance to the application of Articles 150 and 151, because it did not come into effect until March 15, it was too late to impact implementation of the articles during the reporting period. The report, Precarious Journeys: Mapping Vulnerabilities of Victims of Trafficking from Vietnam to Europe, traces the journeys made by Vietnamese children and adults to the UK, finding that the governments of countries on key trafficking routes routinely fail to protect vulnerable Vietnamese children from exploitation. Civil society organizations reported assisting 167 victims of trafficking. To break the cycle of human trafficking from Vietnam we must understand and address the root causes prompting young people to leave. This joint report by Asylos and ARC Foundation addresses an information gap on the topic of victims of trafficking returned to Vietnam from the UK. For the third consecutive year, the government reported a decline in investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking cases during the reporting period. In December 2019, guidance implementing the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code took effect and newly guaranteed victims of trafficking the right to legal representation. The government did not report how the 2018 restructuring of the MPS, in which the MPS Staff Department responsible for anti-trafficking policies and procedures merged with the Criminal Police Department responsible for trafficking operations, improved the flow of information and interagency coordination or law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with regard to sex trafficking, commensurate with other serious crimes, such as rape. Human Rights in Vietnam 2012 Report → Human Trafficking in Vietnam. Contrary to international best practices, a shelter confined victims for multiple years and limited residents’ freedom of movement. The agreements helped to facilitate law enforcement actions by subnational officials in this centrally managed country. The government continued to support English and some ethnic minority languages on the hotline. The government continued to operate 94 social protection or social service centers, some funded by NGOs, to assist victims nationwide, but none provided services to male or child victims exclusively. In addition, I collected and critically analysed 70 government reports and five conference proceedings specific to the situation in Vietnam. She can be reached at kninh@asiafound.org. Train officials on implementing guidelines for Articles 150 and 151 of the penal code, with a focus on identifying and investigating forced labor and internal trafficking cases, including cases involving male victims. Large-scale Vietnamese and Chinese infrastructure investment projects in neighboring countries, such as Laos, may exploit Vietnamese and foreign workers. MoLISA operated a 24-hour hotline for trafficking victims; authorities reported receiving approximately 2,010 calls to this hotline (2700 in 2017) and referring 30 cases to NGO and government services (65 cases referred in 2017). In partnership with an NGO, the VGCL began working to form an association of migrant Vietnamese workers in South Korea to better inform Vietnamese migrant workers about their rights and services available. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs maintained two rooms in a government-run shelter devoted to trafficking victims transiting through Ho Chi Minh City, where they could stay for up to two months. The government decreased law enforcement efforts. MoLISA conducted an inspection, in coordination with public security agencies, and discovered 91 cases related to violations in the recruitment of labor for overseas employment and found 55 organizations and individuals without relevant permits. Traffickers subject victims to forced labor in construction, fishing, agriculture, mining, maritime industries, logging, and manufacturing, primarily in Taiwan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Laos, Japan, and to a lesser extent, some parts of Europe and the UK (including in nail salons and on cannabis farms). Although trafficking-related corruption continues to occur, the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of officials complicit in human trafficking offenses. The government did not report offering foreign victims legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they may face retribution or hardship. Vietnam timeline (horizontal page view) - PDF 213.6 KB Vietnam timeline (single page view) - PDF 232.9 KB Vietnam - Executive Summary - PDF 210.3 KB Vietnam - Full Report - PDF 670.1 KB Psycho-social services for victims remained underdeveloped, with training needed on trauma-informed approaches for all actors engaging with victims, including social workers, front-line officers, and the judiciary. • Take steps to eliminate all worker-paid recruitment fees and predatory recruitment practices for workers migrating abroad or to Vietnam, including by strengthening efforts to monitor labor recruitment companies and third-party sub-brokers and prosecuting predatory or illegal sub-brokerage networks. Although Vietnam is making significant efforts to combat human trafficking, the Vietnamese government did not meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking according to the U.S. Sentences ranged from less than three years’ to 30 years’ imprisonment. We consider that she has not shown that she faces a real risk of ill-treatment on return to Vietnam, whether on account of her previous experience as a victim of trafficking or otherwise’ (Paragraph 51). • Coordinate and effectively implement policies across government agencies to identify and assist victims among vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers, individuals in commercial sex, child laborers, and North Koreans and train relevant officials on these procedures. Despite ongoing reports of official complicity, the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of officials complicit in trafficking offenses. Social protection officials demonstrated a lack of familiarity with migrant worker vulnerability to trafficking, often considering them simply illegal workers. They stole my mother’s organs: a Vietnamese human trafficking victim on going to the UK Nguyen was held captive in Vietnam and then forced to work … The government did not report extradition data. Visitors to Vietnam, U.S. Citizens with emergencies, please call: Hanoi: (024) 3850-5000 - Ho Chi Minh City: (028) 3520-4200 or (028) 3520-4600, Outside of Office Hours, contact: - Hanoi: (024) 3850-5000 - Ho Chi Minh City: (028) 3520-4200 or (028) 3520-4600, Outside of Vietnam: - Hanoi: +8424-3850-5000 - Ho Chi Minh City: +8428-3520-4200 or +8428-3520-4600. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and government-affiliated Women’s Unions often referred victims to NGOs depending on their individual needs. The Ministry of Public Security walks a “fine line” between raising public awareness about human trafficking and “presenting a good face that they are in control”, noted Brosowski. Insufficient time has passed since the close of the reporting period to evaluate if the circular sufficiently addressed the legal discrepancy in the treatment of 16- and 17-year-old children in sex trafficking cases as adults. Therefore Vietnam was downgraded to the Tier 2 Watch List. These referrals led to the identification of 12 trafficking victims. Disparate government bodies continued to report discrepant, overlapping, or incomplete data on anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim identification, and authorities often did not disaggregate trafficking offenses from possible migrant smuggling cases. The government did not report if it addressed previous reports of local and provincial government officials employing practices that could be re-traumatizing to victims, including limiting shelter residents’ freedom of movement. Vietnam. The government encouraged trafficking victims to assist in judicial proceedings against traffickers and offered victims some protection and compensation. Vietnam Report. In August 2018, there were reports that 200 individuals who escaped a government-run drug treatment center claimed authorities forced them to work eight hours a day without compensation and subjected them to punishment, including beating, if they “misbehaved.” Vietnamese law allows for obligatory manual labor for prisoners, which allows forced labor to be used as a means of punishment for political and religious dissidents. By vnmission | 21 June, 2019 | Topics: Official Reports, 25th Anniversary of U.S. – Vietnam Bilateral Relations. The government did not take steps to deny entry of known U.S. sex offenders. The coercion was facilitated by required payment of recruitment and related fees and use of irregular migration schemes, including for work on Taiwanese fishing vessels or on UK cannabis farms. The MFA organized trainings for nearly 300 diplomatic and consular officials on prevention and protection, including among migrant workers. OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and Vietnam Border Guards (under Ministry of Defense)—often in cooperation with foreign partners—identified 211 trafficking cases (350 in 2017, 234 in 2016) involving 276 … Some Vietnamese women who travel abroad for internationally brokered marriages or jobs in restaurants, massage parlors, and karaoke bars—including to China, Cyprus, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Taiwan—are subjected to domestic servitude or sex trafficking. Therefore Vietnam was downgraded to the Tier 2 Watch List. June 8, 2013 by myvietnam0. Delays in issuing implementing guidelines may have contributed to fewer investigations and prosecutions of trafficking cases during the reporting period. Complicit Vietnamese officials, primarily at commune and village levels, facilitate trafficking or exploit victims by accepting bribes from traffickers, overlooking trafficking indicators, and extorting money in exchange for reuniting victims with their families. It also signed nine labor migration agreements aimed at preventing trafficking during the reporting period, eight with the Government of Japan for skilled and technical workers and interns and one with the Government of the UAE for domestic workers. A lack of coordination across provincial-level agencies, persistent budgetary constraints, poor understanding of the relevant legislation among local officials, and confusion about individual provinces’ roles and responsibilities in the context of the national action plan continued to hamper effective law enforcement efforts. Traffickers subject some children to forced or bonded labor in brick factories, urban family homes, and privately run rural gold mines. Vietnamese citizens, primarily women and girls, have been sex trafficked into … Prisoners reportedly work in agriculture and manufacturing, and there have been reports of prisoners of conscience working in hazardous industries such as cashew processing. The MFA organized training courses on human trafficking prevention and combatting in the forms of periodic consular affairs training courses for officials prior to their postings to Vietnamese representative missions abroad. • Amend the penal code to criminalize sex trafficking of 16- and 17-year-old children, consistent with international law. Some Vietnamese women who travel abroad for internationally brokered marriages or jobs in restaurants, massage parlors, and karaoke bars—including to China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Taiwan—are subjected to forced labor in domestic service or sex trafficking. The government did not report how it allocated these funds. Other efforts to raise awareness were more general in nature and composed of thousands of printed bulletins, articles, and reports, as well as several television reports and documentaries. Vietnamese women are trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or … Vietnam Narrative. Police continued efforts to mainstream trafficking content into the training curriculum for new recruits; the MPS organized 12 trainings for 500 police officers, and in cooperation with an international donor, organized trainings on child sexual assault, including child sex trafficking. Despite continued reports of official complicity, the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of officials complicit in trafficking offenses. Traffickers exploit children and adults in forced labor in the garment sector, where workers are coerced to work through threats and intimidation. During the migration process, European gangs and traffickers often exploit Vietnamese victims in forced labor and sex trafficking before they reach their final destination. Traffickers increasingly use the internet, gaming sites, and particularly social media to lure potential victims into vulnerable situations; men often entice young women and girls with online dating relationships and persuade them to move abroad, then subject them to forced labor or sex trafficking. The country has recorded over 3,400 victims of human trafficking since 2013, over 90 percent of them women, children and people from ethnic minority communities. During the reporting period, the government’s existing bilateral anti-trafficking agreements with Cambodia, China, Laos, Republic of Korea, Thailand, and the United Kingdom (UK) to improve law enforcement coordination remained in force. The North Korean government may have forced North Koreans to work in Vietnam. An official website of the United States government, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Office of the U.S. • Invite independent verification of the termination of forced labor within drug treatment centers and provide results of such verification. The government decreased efforts to protect victims. Some recruitment companies are unresponsive to workers’ requests for assistance in situations of exploitation, and some charge excessive fees that trap workers in debt bondage. Traffickers subject victims to forced labor in construction, fishing, agriculture, mining, logging, and manufacturing, primarily in Angola, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates; there are increasing reports of Vietnamese labor trafficking victims in the United Kingdom and Ireland (including on cannabis farms), continental Europe, the Middle East, and in Pacific maritime industries. 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