Vietnamese human trafficking ring uncovered, victims rescued

May 18, 2005

Hanoi - Vietnamese and Chinese police have uncovered a cross-border women trafficking ring, headed by Le Quoc Dung from central Thanh Hoa province.

Dung, born in 1978, and his accomplices - Hoang Xuan Trang, Nguyen Viet Anh, Nguyen Van Hoang, Ngo Viet Hoang, and Lo Van May - had enticed 40 women and young girls into crossing the border, and had sold them to brothels.

The Chinese police have returned 12 victims, including 2 girls under 16, to the police of Cao Bang and Lang Son provinces. The local police and authorities have helped the returnees to stabilise their lives in the community. The case is still under investigation.

Women and children trafficking is on the rise. In particular, the selling of women to Taiwan in the form of "marriage" and of children to other countries in the form of "adopted children" is now causing social concern.

Lao Dong & Xa Hoi (Labour and Society) newspaper said that according to incomplete statistics, tens of thousands of Vietnamese women and children have been trafficked across the northern and southwestern borders annually.

The paper quoted the Borderguard Command's report as saying that 127 women trafficking cases involving 210 offenders were uncovered from 1999 to December 2004. Thousands of victims have been helped to return home. In fact, the paper said, the real number of returnees is higher than reported. An estimated 10,000 victims returned to the country from 1999 to April 2005.

In December 2004, the Vietnamese Government approved and implemented a "National programme on combating women and children trafficking in the 2004-2010 period". The country has also carried out bilateral cooperation with Thailand, China and other countries in the framework of the regional cooperation mechanism.

The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Borderguard Command will sponsor a project on "Receiving and supporting trafficked women and children who return home" with a view to helping them gain access to legal, medical, educational and social services, and get jobs. According to the five-year project, 90 percent of the returnees will be helped to re-integrate into the community by 2010.

Another project on preventing and fighting women and children trafficking, which is aimed at raising public awareness about women and children trafficking, and strengthening the economic capacity of localities, will be implemented with funding from the Asian Fund and support from the Viet Nam Women's Union and the Centre for Supporting Education.

VNA

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