Protecting migrants by training Viet Nam border officers
Hanoi (Viet Nam), 25 May 2012 - Viet Nam's economic growth and increasing participation in the regional and global economy brings positive developments such as an increased mobility of people, goods and money. Unfortunately, the dark side of globalization is that it leaves many people vulnerable, thereby providing significant opportunities for organized criminal networks to expand.
"Our dynamic, rapidly developing region is home to some of the world's most uneven levels of wealth distribution," says Mr. Gary Lewis, UNODC Regional Representative for East Asia and the Pacific. According to him, "inequality is a predictor for significant domestic and international migration which can disrupt communities and isolate vulnerable individuals, generating zones where criminals emerge and the rule of law is challenged."
Trafficking in persons and
migrant smuggling are a significant challenge in Viet Nam and throughout the region. Abuse of legal entry channels and the misuse of legal travel documents obtained by fraudulent means continue to play an important role in facilitating migrant smuggling. Smuggled migrants are exposed to considerable danger during the smuggling process and are often left vulnerable to human trafficking on reaching their destination.
Secure borders are crucial to combat the smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons. The Immigration Department and the Border Guard Command are responsible for the control of Viet Nam's international borders. Beginning in February 2010, UNODC Viet Nam began to work with both to strengthen Viet Nam's border control capacity .
"More than 12,000 km of borders divide Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam. That's 12,000-km-worth of opportunities to smuggle people, drugs, natural resources and hazardous goods throughout the region," says Mr. Lewis. "UNODC continues to assist our national law enforcement partners to plan effective border security strategies and counter transnational organized crime."
In Viet Nam, UNODC trains border control officers and works with the government agencies to improve border control procedures, information and data collection, threat analysis and detection of irregular migration and human trafficking, and communication, and to raise public awareness.
Well-trained border control officers are critical front-line components in the fight to secure borders. After assessing the training procedures and needs of the Immigration Department and the Border Guard Command, UNODC Viet Nam brought together 12 border control officers to train them so that they, upon their return to their workplaces, could train colleagues on the skills and tools necessary to fight migrant smuggling and human trafficking.
The nine-day
'Training for training field officers' course was held at the Hanoi Army Hotel in April 2012. To view a photo gallery of images from this, click
here.
Background:
This training is held under the auspices of UNODC Viet Nam project VNMS79,
Support to strengthening of immigration control capacity at international border gates and international cooperation to prevent and control migrant smuggling and human trafficking.
It is made possible through the funding support of the
ONE UN Fund in Viet Nam, the Governments of Australia and the United Kingdom.
Bản dịch tiếng Việt
