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Vietnam and Cambodia to Crack Down on Human Trafficking

June 25, 2006

Vietnam and Cambodia will crack down on human trafficking operations across the border between the two countries, the Ministry of Public Security in Vietnam has announced. ¹

The campaign, scheduled to begin in July 2006, is expected to boost the fight against trafficking in women and children, which had increased over recent years, the ministry said. As part of the campaign and under a co-operation agreement signed between the two Governments in October 2005 on eliminating human trafficking and helping victims, Viet Nam would draw up a list of suspects and rings involved in trafficking from Viet Nam to Cambodia.

Cambodia, on its part, would also define key areas, suspects and rings engaged in trafficking Vietnamese women and children. The campaign programme was released at a two-day conference on Viet Nam-Cambodia border executive co-operation on combating human trafficking in Hoh Chi Minh City. The conference was held by the Ministry of Public Security of Viet Nam, the Ministry of the Interior of Cambodia, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). During the conference, Chief of the UNODC’s Viet Nam Representative Office, Narumi Yamada spoke highly of the cooperation between Viet Nam and Cambodia in the fight against human trafficking. She said the two countries would take more measures to share and exchange information on pursuing and transferring criminals involved in human trafficking.

Head of the Cambodian Interior Ministry delegation, Un Sokhunthea, expressed her determination to work closely with Viet Nam in order to tighten control over the trafficking of Vietnamese women and children across the border and inside Cambodian territory. According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, trafficking of women and children abroad had become increasingly complicated and more difficult to control. Thousands of victims, mostly in the southern provinces of An Giang, Tay Ninh, Dong Thap, Kien Giang and Tien Giang, were sold to Cambodia, where they were delivered to third countries.

¹ Adapted from: ‘Viet Nam, Cambodia to crack down on human trafficking.’ Vietnam News Service. 19 May 2006. (Source: UNIAP)