HANOI 2 October 2024 – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Department of Drug Control and Crime Prevention (DDCCP) of the Viet Nam Border Guard Command jointly launched a two-year project on 2 October 2024 to strengthen Viet Nam's land and sea borders against the risks of trafficking in persons and related cross-border crimes. The project is funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the United States Department of State.

As Viet Nam's economy picks up its speed after the pandemic, the number of Vietnamese people migrating to work overseas, hoping for better life and incomes, is increasing. Taking advantage of the needs of people, migrant smugglers and human traffickers increasingly utilize online platforms to recruit, defraud, coerce, and exploit victims into working at online scam centres spanning jurisdictionally complex areas in the Southeast Asia region. As stated in the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report 2023, since mid-2022, more than 4,100 Vietnamese nationals exploited by online scam syndicates had been repatriated, and more cases are being exposed.

In that context, the Viet Nam Border Guard plays an instrumental role in the fight against trafficking in persons (TIP) and the provision of protection and support for trafficking victims. Overseeing 5,036 km of land borders and 3,260 km of coastline, the Border Guard is at the forefront of cross-border crime prevention and control. They are very often the first – and sometimes only – law enforcement officers with whom a trafficking victim may ever come into contact.

Building on the success of the previous project between IOM and the Viet Nam Border Guard, this project aims to enhance the technical capacity of Viet Nam Border Guard, especially frontline officers in hotspot border areas, to better detect, investigate, and handle TIP cases and identify, protect, and assist trafficking victims, particularly when the crime has evolved to online space.

Within its framework, the project will introduce a new training curriculum on counter-trafficking and victim protection for frontline officers. This curriculum, updated with the latest laws, criminal trends, and specific case files, will be distributed to Border Guard stations in target provinces. It will be used to conduct 16 training workshops for over 600 frontline counter-crime and immigration control Border Guard officers across Viet Nam. With the technical equipment to be provided by the project to support criminal investigations, officers are expected to immediately apply their enhanced capacity to tackle complex TIP and related cross-border criminal cases as well as to better protect and support victims of such crimes.

As part of this initiative, the project will create more opportunities to foster cross-border collaboration between the Viet Nam Border Guard and their counterparts in the region. This new platform will enable them to exchange effective methods, professional skills, and practical experiences that have been successfully applied in investigating and prosecuting cross-border crimes.

Additionally, the project also emphasizes training frontline officers in communication skills to effectively conduct community engagement activities. These activities aim to promote safe migration and reduce irregular migration among vulnerable communities in border areas.

"IOM is very proud to continue to cooperate with the Department of Drug Control and Crime Prevention of the Viet Nam Border Guard to contribute to enhancing the capacities of Viet Nam Border Guard officers, who are at the frontline to receive, protect and identify returning trafficking victims. Facilitating safe and orderly cross-border human mobility for migrants while maintaining border security and supporting border guards' engagement is one of the critical components in IOM' mandate," IOM's Chief of Mission, Ms Park Mi-Hyung, stated.

"Trafficking in persons is a complex global problem that requires a coordinated response. This project is a significant part of IOM's work to support the Government of Viet Nam not just to strengthen its border security and management of migration flows but also to contribute to the comprehensive effort under the National Programme on Human Trafficking Prevention and Control 2021-2025 and the National Implementation Plan for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), of which Viet Nam is an active member," Ms Park Mi-Hyung added.

Mr Ryan McKean, Director of INL Viet Nam, stated: “The U.S. commends Viet Nam on its upgrade to Tier 2 in the annual U.S. Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.  We are proud to partner with IOM and the Viet Nam Border Guard on this new project to further enhance the screening and identification of TIP victims at border and sea gates. Capable frontline officers are essential to the fight against trafficking in persons and this project supports VBG officers with training and equipment to do this critical task.”

Senior Colonel Vu Xuan Dai, Deputy Director of the Department of Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Vietnam Border Guard Command (DDCCP, VBG), affirmed: “International cooperation in preventing and combating organized and transnational crime in general, and trafficking in persons in particular, is extremely necessary. DDCCP has effectively implemented this task in the last few years. In adherence to the Ministry of National Defense’s directive and the Border Guard High Command, the Department of Drug Control and Crime Prevention will proactively implement approved cooperation activities, aiming to improve the effectiveness of our collective effort to prevent and combat human trafficking crimes in the coming time”.

For further information: IOM Viet Nam: Nguyen Ngoc Tram, National Communications Officer. Email: ngocnguyen@iom.int | Mobile: 0912893964