Staff from the northern province of Lào Cai’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs launch a dissemination campaign to raise awareness on human trafficking for local people. — Photo plo.vn

HÀ NỘI — As many as 3,476 Vietnamese people have been recorded as victims of trafficking since 2013. Most of them are ethnic minority people.

The information was revealed by Nguyễn Xuân Lập, head of the Social Evils Prevention Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, at a conference held in HCM City on Friday. It aimed at reviewing the implementation of a Government Decree detailing the execution of some articles of the Law on Human Trafficking Prevention and Combat.

Statistics from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime showed that there have been around 244 million international migrants in the world, and the number of migrants was increasing due to terrorism, conflict and violence. Many of them have become trafficking victims.

“Việt Nam is considered a hot spot for human trafficking and illegal migration in the Mekong sub-region, with profits from trafficking activities estimated at up to dozens of billions of dollars a year,” said Lê Văn Nhãn, deputy head of the Anti-Human Trafficking Office under the Ministry of Public Security’s Criminal Police Department.

Most of the trafficking victims live in rural areas and face financial difficulties. They are not well-educated and are either unemployed or involved in agriculture.

Traffickers often took advantage of the financial situations of victims as well as their poor education, he said.

Some foreigners worked with Vietnamese people who act as middlemen to bring labourers to work abroad illegally. While they are abroad, the identity documents of the labourers were seized so they would be forced to work or have their wages withheld.

Great efforts have been made by the Government in providing support to the victims of trafficking.

From 2013 to June this year, 2,960 victims had received assistance from the State and social organisations.

This includes provision of medical, psychological, legal and cultural support as well as vocational training.

However, many participants at the conference said due attention hasn’t been paid to human trafficking prevention and combat, as well as support for victims after they are rescued in some localities.

They proposed that there should be clear regulations relating to the verification of trafficking victims and care for them.

Close coordination between agencies in receiving and providing support for them was needed.

It was necessary to have staff with professional skills to help the victims stabilise their lives as soon as possible, said the participants. — VNS