Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Vietnam and Cambodia will crack down on human trafficking operations across the border between the two countries, the Ministry of Public Security said on 17 May.

The campaign, scheduled to begin in July 2006, is expected to create breakthroughs in the fight against woman and child trafficking, which has shown an increasing trend over recent years, the ministry said.

Under the campaign, part of specific activities under an agreement signed between the two governments in October 2005 regarding cooperation in eliminating human trafficking and helping victims, Vietnam will draw up a list of suspects and rings involved in trafficking women and children
from Vietnam to Cambodia. The Cambodian side will define key areas, suspects and rings engaged in trafficking Vietnamese women and children.

The information on the campaign was released at a conference on the Vietnam-Cambodia border executive cooperation on combating human trafficking, which took place in Ho Chi Minh City on 17-18 May. The conference was held by the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam, the Ministry of the Interior of Cambodia, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, trafficking of women and children abroad has 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.

Source: VNA