Nationwide discovered 3,000 human trafficking cases in 8 years

According to the report of the Ministry of Public Security, from 2010 to the end of the third quarter of 2018, the whole country discovered 3,000 cases of human trafficking with 4,500 subjects, defrauding and selling nearly 7,000 victims. In particular, recently there have been cases of buying and selling men, buying and selling newborn babies..., these are new problems arising in human trafficking.

Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha said that in recent times, Vietnam has made many efforts in preventing and combating human trafficking. However, in the context of increasingly complicated human trafficking situations, the demand for consulting services and information on safe migration and preventing and combating human trafficking is increasing, therefore, the establishment of a hotline for preventing and combating human trafficking is considered one of the effective and suitable solutions to strengthen the network of cooperation and coordination in preventing and combating human trafficking in Vietnam.

A woman in Nghe An recently returned from China after selling her child. Photo: PB

Since 2012, with financial and technical support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Ministry of Labor has implemented the Project “Establishment of a hotline to prevent and combat human trafficking in Vietnam”. The objective of this project is to strengthen the current functions of the Child Counseling and Support Hotline (now the National Child Protection Hotline 111) and expand the function of preventing and combating human trafficking to contribute to the Government’s overall efforts in preventing and combating human trafficking as well as reintegrating victims into the community.

According to Ms. Ayumi Yuasa, Head of the Division of Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction (Infrastructure and Peacebuilding Department, JICA), victims of human trafficking have changed. The number of forced labor victims and men has increased, but women and children still account for the majority of victims, accounting for more than 70%. Therefore, JICA focuses on supporting children and women, while expanding support to men.

The hotline for preventing and combating human trafficking, deployed from October 2013 to the end of June 2018, received nearly 13,000 calls, including more than 9,000 calls providing information, 3,500 calls providing consultations related to policies, psychology, and procedures to support victims of trafficking, and intervened in nearly 300 cases for victims.

Following the results achieved from phase 1 of the project, the Ministry of Labor and JICA continue to cooperate in implementing phase 2 with the goals of establishing a national hotline system to contribute to strengthening the service referral mechanism in Vietnam, moving towards cross-border cooperation with neighboring countries in preventing and combating human trafficking.

Also on the basis of the hotline's operation, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; the Ministry of Public Security; the Ministry of National Defense; and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union have signed cooperation agreements, creating a mechanism for coordination in sharing information and connecting services on preventing and combating human trafficking.

Hien Tung