RECOMMENDATIONS FOR VIETNAM:
Using provisions of the 2012 anti-trafficking law, vigorously prosecute all forms of trafficking and convict and punish traffickers, especially in cases involving forced labor or complicit officials; ensure draft anti-trafficking amendments to the penal code allow for criminal prosecutions of labor traffickers; actively monitor labor recruitment companies and enforce regulations that prohibit the imposition of excessive recruitment fees; increase training for officials on the anti-trafficking law, with a specific focus on identifying and investigating cases of forced labor and internal trafficking cases; cease the practice of subjecting Vietnamese drug users to forced labor in government-run drug rehabilitation centers; implement policies for the proactive identification and provision of assistance to victims among vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers, individuals in prostitution, and child laborers, and train relevant officials in the use of such procedures; provide training for consular officials on worker rights and international labor standards; support efforts of international organizations or other stakeholders to research and report on trafficking trends in Vietnam, including the public release of findings; improve data collection and disseminate at the national level on all forms of trafficking; improve interagency cooperation on anti-trafficking efforts in order to effectively implement the national plan of action; develop programs that reduce stigma and promote reintegration of trafficking returnees; and implement anti-trafficking campaigns directed at those who solicit adults and children in the sex trade.

PROSECUTION
The government sustained law enforcement efforts to combat trafficking.Vietnam’s 2012 anti-trafficking law expanded on Articles 119 and 120 of the country’s penal code to specifically define and criminalize sex and labor trafficking, although it was unclear if the law prohibited all forms of trafficking. Based on severity of the crime, these articles prescribe punishments ranging from two to 20 years’ and three to 25 years’ imprisonment, respectively, which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious offenses, such as rape, and also impose fines on traffickers ranging between five and 50 million Vietnamese dong ($240-$2,350). In 2014, the government launched a nationwide computer database to track trafficking cases; however, inconsistencies in data collected on anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim identification data persisted.
In 2014, the government arrested 685 suspected traffickers, of which it prosecuted 472 (346 under Article 119 and 126 under Article 120) and convicted 413, with sentences ranging mostly from three to 15 years’ imprisonment, a slight decrease from the 420 offenders convicted in 2013. Authorities did not report how many cases involved sex or labor trafficking or how many were for internal or transnational trafficking. Although the 2012 anti-trafficking amendments provide a criminal law basis to prosecute these crimes, officials primarily pursued labor trafficking cases as administrative violations under the country’s labor laws, which do not provide criminal penalties. Officials continued to

participate in joint investigations and rescue operations in China, Cambodia, and Laos. A lack of coordination across provincial agencies impeded overall law enforcement progress in Vietnam, and officials sometimes did not pursue trafficking investigations due to provincial budgetary constraints. Contract disputes between workers and labor recruitment companies—for fraudulent recruitment and conditions indicative of forced labor—were left largely to companies to resolve. Although workers had the legal right to take cases to court, few had the resources to do so. The government reported an increased number of officials received anti-trafficking training. The Ministry of Public Security conducted 40 interagency trainings for 1,000 officials on anti- trafficking investigations. However, local officials had difficulties applying anti-trafficking legislation. Although trafficking-related corruption continues to occur, the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION
The government demonstrated modest efforts to protect victims. In 2014, authorities identified 1,031 potential trafficking victims but did not report how many were exploited in sex or labor trafficking, how many were adults or children, or how many were exploited in Vietnam or abroad. In comparison, authorities certified 982 trafficking victims in 2013.Victim identification and referral mechanisms remained weak throughout the country. The government had a formal procedure for victim identification, but it did not proactively employ it to identify victims among vulnerable groups, such as women arrested for prostitution, migrant workers returning from abroad, and child laborers. It also did not systematically refer victims to protective services due to inadequacies that persisted in its formal referral process. Officials continued to conflate trafficking with smuggling, which precluded the identification of victims who voluntarily migrated abroad.
In 2014, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA) provided protection and reintegration support to 668 trafficking victims, of which the government repatriated over half. Protection services varied by location but generally included legal aid, counseling, shelter, vocational training, healthcare, and financial allowances. Authorities did not report the number of victims who used the one-time government cash subsidy—up to one million dong ($50). MOLISA’s social protection centers, which provided services to a wide range of vulnerable groups, sometimes housed trafficking victims; these centers are often underfunded and lack appropriately trained personnel to assist victims. The Vietnam Women’s Union, in partnership with NGOs and with foreign donor funding, continued to operate three shelters in urban areas, one of which was trafficking-specific. Vietnam had no shelters or services specifically for assisting male or child victims and none devoted specifically to victims of labor trafficking.Vietnam maintained labor attachés at their embassies in nine countries receiving large numbers of documented Vietnamese migrant workers; however, reports allege some Vietnamese diplomatic personnel lacked sufficient training to adequately assist victims. Vietnam lacked diplomatic representation or bilateral agreements with some countries where Vietnamese citizens were subjected to trafficking, inhibiting victims’ access to government assistance and impeding the government’s protection efforts. In some repatriation cases,Vietnamese diplomatic missions provided basic provisions, transportation, and healthcare to Vietnamese victims subjected to trafficking abroad. The government reportedly encouraged trafficking victims to assist in judicial proceedings against traffickers

and offered some protection and compensation to victims, yet victims expressed trepidation to use them given the endemic social stigma attached to being a victim, fear of retribution in their local communities, and fear of punishment for illegal acts committed in the course of being subjected to trafficking. Vietnamese law protects victims from being prosecuted for actions taken as a consequence of being subjected to trafficking; however, officials are not properly trained in identification of trafficking victims, which may have led to the treatment of some victims as criminals.The government did not offer foreign victims legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they faced retribution or hardship.