Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security has revealed that over 3,000 people were trafficked from 2012 to 2017 with 85% of cases involving cross-border trafficking to China, Cambodia, and Laos. Most were women and children.
Deputy Minister of Public Security Lê Quý Vương said of these victims, over 2,500 have managed to escape and return home while it is unknown what happened to the other 500 victims.
Over the five-year period police have launched over 1,000 criminal proceedings involving 2,000 suspected traffickers.
Viet Nam News reports:
Inside the country, most victims are lured to be sold at disguised restaurants, karaoke bars or massage parlours, which actually work as brothels.
However, up to 85 per cent of human trafficking cases are cross-border ones, mostly at the borders between Việt Nam and neighbouring countries of China, Cambodia and Laos.
Of these, cases, where people were trafficked to China, account for 75 per cent of the total. Some other destinations include Thailand, Malaysia and Russia.
Most female victims sold abroad are forced to marry local men and suffer from sexual abuse or coercive labour.
There are also cases where the victims are male. A report by the NA’s Committee of Justice cited a case detected by authorities in southern Cần Thơ City in which eight men were lured to China to sell their kidneys.
The Ministry of Public Security noted that human trafficking is more prevalent in rural, mountainous, remote, and border areas, particularly where Vietnam’s ethnic minorities live.
Deputy Minister Vương also says human traffickers are becoming more sophisticated, luring victims through social media and smartphones, making the crime harder to detect.
Furthermore, he said that prosecutors are unable to proceed with criminal proceedings in cases where victims have not been rescued and are unable to testify — even if their traffickers have admitted their guilt.
In light of this,Vương says he would like to see the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and the Ministry of Public Security cooperate to allow local authorities to investigate and bring the criminals to court.
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