Viet Nam - Over half the world’s 21 million victims of forced labour are in the Asia-Pacific region. The majority work in the formal economy – making the clothes we wear, harvesting the food we eat and producing the goods we take for granted in our everyday lives.

IOM is committed to ending slavery and trafficking, and is working in the interests of vulnerable migrant workers.  In line with these aims, it has launched a new training programme designed for use in factories in Viet Nam.

The Corporate Responsibility in Eliminating Slavery and Trafficking (CREST) programme provides targeted training to company managers and workers on ways to reduce human trafficking and slavery in their daily operations and through their supply chains.

This includes guidance on how to comply with new anti-slavery legislation and trade requirements, as well as practical tips on how to implement ethical recruitment practices and better monitor lower tier suppliers.

“It is not uncommon for companies with large and complex supply chains to be caught out by allegations of forced labour or human rights violations in their supply chain,” said David Knight, Chief of Mission for IOM Viet Nam.

“While companies may be unaware of these violations – or there may be a gap between what they are told and what actually happens – at the end of the day they will still be held responsible for any violations that occur. We’ve therefore designed CREST to help companies manage this risk by and for themselves.”

The first CREST training was delivered to 20 managers from TAL Apparel’s Thai Binh City factory earlier this month.

Although not a household name TAL Apparel is one of the world’s leading apparel manufacturers, with 11 factories in Asia, including two factories in Viet Nam, which produce garments for many well-known brands. 

 “At TAL Apparel, we want to be known not only for our garments, but also for our high quality approach to business ethics,” said James Phillips, Senior Vice President of TAL in Viet Nam.

“For us, bringing in an experienced and respected organisation like IOM to train our staff on human trafficking and slavery makes good business sense.”

IOM plans to roll out the CREST programme to other sectors and countries in the coming months.

For further information about the CREST program, please contact David Knight at IOM Viet Nam, Tel. +84 438 501 810, Email: dknight@iom.int