Vietnam/TIP: DEMARCHE DELIVERED, RECEIVED WELL

UNCLAS HANOI 001369

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN PREL PGOV SMIG VM
SUBJECT: Vietnam/TIP: DEMARCHE DELIVERED, RECEIVED WELL

REF: STATE 85571


1. (SBU) Poloff delivered reftel demarche and an advance
copy of the Vietnam language in the TIP report to Americas
Desk Section Chief Le Chi Dzung June 5. Dzung was well
briefed on the main TIP issues of concern regarding Vietnam
in the report. He said that Vietnam appreciates the overall
balance shown in the report, and provided several specific
responses.


2. (SBU) To begin with, Dzung said the United States should
recognize that "no one cares more about the welfare of
Vietnamese citizens and protecting them from abuse than we
do." Vietnam is very serious about combating trafficking,
and has dedicated substantial resources to the task.
However, he said, the GVN recognizes that combating
trafficking is a daunting task for a developing country in a
rapidly globalizing economy where differentials in standards
of living and wage scales are significant and readily
apparent to the population. "There is a lot of migration
pressure in Vietnam," Dzung said, "and that means a lot of
opportunity for exploitation."


3. (SBU) Dzung addressed some of the points raised in the
Vietnam portion of the TIP report. He agreed that
exploitation of Vietnamese brides and trafficking through
marriage is a problem in Vietnam, but disagreed with the
U.S. conclusion that the GVN has not made efforts to combat
the problem. Fraudulent marriage is one of the main
trafficking methods used to send women to China, and is the
focus of anti-TIP enforcement efforts, he said. Regarding
forced labor conditions, Dzung objected to the report's use
of the phrase "forced labor conditions of many Vietnamese
workers sent abroad." Cases involving forced labor are very
rare, Dzung said, and usually involve Vietnamese who have
left their legal contracts voluntarily. The report makes it
sound as though this is a regular occurrence or something
that happens on a large scale; in fact, there have been only
a few cases out of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese
laborers abroad. He challenged the Embassy to provide data
to back up the report's allegations of "many" workers facing
forced labor conditions.


4. (SBU) Dzung agreed that the expansion of labor export
requires additional resources for the oversight of labor
export companies and the protection of Vietnamese workers
abroad, and noted that a new labor export law is "under
construction" now with input from international experts,
including the ILO and IOM, and should be ready for passage
in November 2006. Finally, he questioned the report's
assertion that "some local government officials reportedly
profited from trafficking" and asked for the evidence the
USG has to support this "extremely serious" allegation.

MARINE