Vietnam - United States Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report

VIETNAM (Tier 2)

• Vietnam's government is making significant efforts to combat trafficking but does not fully meet minimum standards.
• Efforts include legislative revisions, increased legal actions against traffickers, and victim assistance.
• Challenges remain, including inadequate identification of victims, particularly among repatriated individuals, and no identified foreign national victims.
• No prosecution of government employees complicit in trafficking.

PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Revise and approve anti-trafficking laws in collaboration with NGOs.
2. Investigate and prosecute traffickers with adequate penalties.
3. Improve victim screening and interagency coordination.
4. Expand training on victim identification and care.
5. Eliminate worker-paid recruitment fees.
6. Allocate more resources for the National Action Plan (NAP).
7. Standardize anti-trafficking statistics.

PROSECUTION

• Slight increase in law enforcement efforts.
• Vietnam's penal code criminalizes labor and sex trafficking with significant penalties.
• Recent legislative revisions aim to address legal gaps.
• Challenges include insufficient cooperation with neighboring countries in investigations.
• Training and international cooperation are ongoing to improve prosecution efforts.

PROTECTION

• Increased efforts to protect victims but challenges remain.
• Identified 311 victims in 2023, all Vietnamese; no foreign victims identified.
• Complex victim identification procedures hinder assistance.
• Limited resources and capacity for proactive victim identification.
• Repatriated individuals from online scam operations but identification as trafficking victims remains inconsistent.

PREVENTION

• Slight improvement in prevention efforts.
• Implementation of NAP for 2021-2025 with increased funding.
• Public awareness campaigns in partnership with NGOs.
• Law 69 aims to protect overseas workers but implementation gaps remain.
• Efforts to improve data collection and interagency cooperation.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

• Traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Vietnam and Vietnamese victims abroad.
• Informal economy increases vulnerability to trafficking.
• Labor trafficking prevalent in various industries and regions.
• Victims include Vietnamese nationals in forced labor and sex trafficking abroad and domestically.
• Increasing reports of online scam operations and deceptive recruitment tactics.
• Sociocultural factors and economic stressors exacerbate vulnerabilities.