HA NOI—Today, the semi-final round of IOM’s first debate competition on safe migration and human trafficking prevention among Vietnamese youths was officially launched at the Green One UN House. The competition is an initiative from IOM in collaboration with Vietnam Women's Union, and Vietnam National Television (VTV7) as part of the social movement to raise awareness on safe migration as key to prevent human trafficking.

Vietnamese migrants’ contributions to societies and economic development in both countries of origin and destination have been studied and proven positive. Despite their resilience, migrant workers remain disproportionately vulnerable to forced labour and human trafficking throughout the labour migration process. Many migrant workers continue experiencing unethical recruitment practices, including excessive recruitment fees and related costs, deception, and inaccurate pre-departure information, as well as lack of freedom of choice. At destinations, they are often in temporary, informal, or unprotected jobs, which exposes them to a greater risk of insecurity, layoffs, and poor working and living conditions.

To make sure that individuals and communities are empowered to make informed decisions on migration, IOM aims to increase the interest and knowledge about safe migration as key to tackle human trafficking and modern slavery in Viet Nam among youth through their active participations in the special episode of “Truong Teen” debate show.

The competition calls for students aged between 16 to 20 from all over Viet Nam to submit short videos explaining their initial thoughts on migration as a life-changing opportunity. After two weeks, IOM received 115 submissions with various opinions about the issue. Twenty-nine students from Hai Phong, Quang Binh, Nghe An and Ha Tinh were selected to join a bootcamp in Hanoi prior to the semi-final round where they received trainings on debate skills and information sessions on (1) fundamental information about migration and human trafficking, (2) regular and irregular migrations; and (3) tips on how to ensure safety before, during and after migration. Sixteen of them, divided in four groups, were selected to join the semi-final debate round today.

“The students demonstrated an extraordinary understanding of multifaceted aspects of migration and human trafficking. I had a lot of fun watching their debates and I am so inspired by their creative and open-minded approach to tackle critical problems such as risks and opportunities related to different types of migration.” IOM’s Chief of Mission, Ms Park Mihyung emphasized.

“In today’s global economy, the movement of people is inevitable, and we have to find ways to achieve migration safely and humanely, that can benefit all. When I saw one student went on stage and proudly presented her idea on migration, I thought youth have a strong voice and play an important role in any safe migration campaign. I hope that all students who participated in this competition learned how to lead and make informed decision,” Ms Park Mihyung said.

The UK Ambassador to Viet Nam, H.E. Iain Frew, stated: “Today’s students are the leaders of the future. It is vital to promote dialogue and understanding among youth and help them to gain essential knowledge on safe migration, understand their rights and obligations, opportunities, and risks to make informed decisions and protect themselves from falling into vulnerable situations including being trafficked or exploited.”

The debate competition is organised under the framework of the “Tackling modern slavery in Viet Nam” (TMSV) project, funded by the UK Government and implemented by IOM. The competition was run through IOM Viet Nam’s Facebook Fanpage, VTV7 and “Think Before You Go” page, an IOM’s social project page. The winners of the semi-final round will participate in a VTV7’s special episode of Truong Teen on migration and human trafficking on 12 March.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Ms Nguyen Ngoc Tram, National Communications Officer - ngocnguyen@iom.int/ Mob: 0912893964

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More information about the TMSV project:

The Tackling Modern Slavery in Viet Nam (TMSV) project works with Vietnamese Government and local actors to realise their potential to reduce individual and community vulnerabilities to modern slavery including human trafficking through:

•   Behaviour change communication

•   Strengthened access to justice 

•  Victim-centred rehabilitation and reintegration support.  

Since 2018, the TMSV project has achieved:

• 1,782 counter-trafficking actors capacitated (865 men, 917 women): 425 for prevention, 392 for prosecution, and 965 for protection
• 2,939,014 people increased awareness of human trafficking prevention and safe migration: 28,299 live and 2,910,715 online
• 1,680 people gained access to local employment opportunities and regular labour migration pathways (1,037 men, 643 women)
• 211 vocational students (154 men, 57 women) improved digital skills and job-seeking skills
• 505 migrants in vulnerable situations and victims of trafficking received support.