Hanoi rejected the US Department of State’s 2022 Trafficking in Person Report that adds Vietnam to the human trafficking blacklist.

The report does not fully reflect the situation and efforts to prevent and combat human trafficking in Vietnam, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said today [July 21].

Spokesperson of Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang. Photo: MOFA

Hang said in response to the report released earlier this week, in which Washington said human trafficking worsened in five out of 11 Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Brunei were dropped down to Tier 3, the lowest rating, to join their Southeast Asian neighbors Malaysia and Myanmar already on this classification, together with some other countries like China, Cuba, and North Korea.

She said Vietnam expects the US to closely cooperate with Vietnam to have a full assessment of the situation in the Southeast Asian country as well as its efforts against the issue.

“We stand ready to discuss with the US and relevant parties on specific cooperation to jointly prevent and fight human trafficking effectively,” Hang said in a statement.

The spokesperson said Vietnam has been taking drastic measures against human trafficking, adding that the prevention and combat of domestic and cross-border human trafficking are always reviewed to take prompt measures.

On the occasion of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement on protecting victims of human trafficking on July 18. In February 2021, the country announced a program on anti-human trafficking in the 2021-2025 period with a vision for 2030, in which it promotes the tasks and measures to fight human trafficking with participation from all ministries and localities. The move is aimed to strengthen efforts against human trafficking which is stipulated in Vietnam's Law on Prevention and Combatting of Human Trafficking that was adopted in 2011.

Many policies have been made against forced labor, in support of victims of human trafficking, and to protect children on the Internet.

Vietnam has been implementing an inter-governmental agreement covering international migration, the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), to increase the transparency and accessibility of migration procedures.