Nghe An strengthens cooperation with the UK to prevent human trafficking

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of December 2, the Provincial People's Committee had a working session with the delegation of the Office of the UK Independent High Commissioner for Modern Slavery.

Comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the meeting. Also attending were representatives of a number of relevant departments, agencies and branches of Nghe An.

The delegation included Mr. Kevin Hyland - Independent Commissioner for Modern Slavery as head of the delegation, members of the Office of the High Commissioner and representatives of the Blue Dragon Children's Organization.

Working scene.

Representatives of provincial leaders and departments, branches and sectors at the working session.

Members of the delegation of the Office of the Independent High Commissioner of the United Kingdom.

At the meeting, on behalf of the Provincial People's Committee, comrade Dinh Viet Hong introduced to the delegation some general information about Nghe An and the province's socio-economic development situation in the first 11 months of 2015.

In recent years, human trafficking has become extremely complex and sophisticated, with organized activities and cross-provincial and transnational networks. Crimes often target ethnic minority mountainous areas, with victims mainly being children and women aged 14 to 30. In 2014, Nghe An detected and handled 14 human trafficking cases, prosecuting 25 defendants. In 2015, the province organized the reception and support of 29 victims of human trafficking who returned to their localities.

Comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said that Nghe An needs support and assistance from individuals and organizations in the work of preventing human trafficking.

The situation of human trafficking crimes is still complicated, the number of victims is large but the number of victims supported is still limited, most of them only stop at receiving support, supporting transportation costs to return home according to State regulations, most of the victims have not accessed support services (loans, vocational training, job creation...). Comrade Dinh Viet Hong hopes that Nghe An will receive help from organizations and individuals in the work of preventing human trafficking through building facilities, sponsoring equipment for psychological counseling, health care, vocational training... to help victims reintegrate into the community.

Mr. Kevin Hyland - UK Independent Commissioner for Modern Slavery Crime wishes to strengthen international cooperation with Vietnam in general and Nghe An in particular to effectively deal with human trafficking.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Kevin Hyland - UK Independent Commissioner for Modern Slavery said that in 2014 alone, in the UK, there were more than 2,300 people registered to identify as victims of human trafficking, of which more than 200 were Vietnamese nationals.

They were forced to do jobs such as prostitution, domestic work, growing marijuana, etc. In the first 9 months of 2015, the number exceeded 3,000 people, including more than 300 Vietnamese people, 60% of whom were men and more than half of whom were male minors.

In recent times, the Office of the Independent High Commissioner of the United Kingdom has had closer international cooperation to detect and deal with human trafficking, also known as modern slavery. Mr. Hyland wants to increase work with local authorities in Vietnam to find out the mechanism of this type of crime, the motives that push victims to the UK illegally, thereby outlining an effective response plan to prevent modern slavery from recurring.

Ms. Julienne Megan Carey - Head of Project Office of Blue Dragon Children's Organization proposed to build a support house for victims of human trafficking in Nghe An in the near future to help victims quickly reintegrate into the community.

Representative of Blue Dragon Children's Organization, Ms. Julienne Megan Carey - Head of the organization's Project Office, said that in the past time, the organization has cooperated with many local government agencies, police forces, etc. to rescue and repatriate 500 victims. In the near future, the organization hopes to be able to receive favorable conditions from the province to build support houses in Nghe An, welcome the returning victims, and provide effective services so that they can reintegrate into the community and rebuild their lives./.

Hoai Thu - Thu Giang