The Pressing Issue of Human Trafficking in Vietnam and How It Is Being Handled

By Thuyan Dang

Vietnam is facing a rising onset of human trafficking, numbering in hundreds of men, women, and children yearly. This exploitation involves traffickers enticing victims through various social media platforms, internet dating websites, and gaming platforms. Additionally, victims are persuaded with the hope of future prospects of economic gains. Traffickers ensure the tight bondage of victims through debt and by working them under grim conditions in various settings, such as brothels, restaurants, or cannabis production factories until paid off (Nguyen). After many agonizing years of abuse, only a few fortuitous survivors have managed to escape the abominable ordeal, only to encounter extreme difficulty in rebuilding their life and maintaining a living; this is partially by virtue of their poverty-ridden and poorly-educated starting situation.

The Vietnamese government is doing little to improve this situation. In fact, the authorities facilitate human trafficking by accepting bribes from traffickers, overlooking indicators, and extorting money from victims. Evidence suggests that the Vietnamese police are complicit in human trafficking by cooperating with traffickers for personal benefit (Luong). Concurrently, the negative stigma around the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of survivors deters reporting to the authorities and reaching out for necessary help. The corrupt police and authorities, coupled with local attitudes encompassing human trafficking, conduces the perpetuation of these inhumane acts and the poor living conditions of Vietnamese human trafficking survivors.

Under this atmosphere, it is imperative that the government is more immersed in human trafficking by providing increased rehabilitation programs, financial and emotional support, shelters, and education. Moreover, it is necessary to reconstruct the police system and increase public awareness, outreach, and advocacy campaigns (Nguyen). Survivors should be able to rely on their governments to assist in their recovery and their eventual thrive. Solutions need to be brought to the table if changes are going to occur in Vietnam.

Works Cited

Diplomat, Dien Luong for The. “Vietnam's Corruption Problem.” The Diplomat, For The

Diplomat, 29 Feb. 2016, thediplomat.com/2016/02/vietnams-corruption-problem/.

Accessed 20 August 2020.

Diplomat, Thoi Nguyen for The. “Vietnam's Human Trafficking Problem Is Too Big to

Ignore.” The Diplomat, For The Diplomat, 19 Nov. 2019,

thediplomat.com/2019/11/vietnams-human-trafficking-problem-is-too-big-to ignore/. Accessed 20 August 2020.