TIP/Vietnam: Vietnam Ministries Get Action

UNCLAS HANOI 000885 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS; G/TIP; INL/AAE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCRM PINS VM TIP SUBJECT: TIP/Vietnam: Vietnam Ministries Get Action Assignments SENSITIVE - Do not post on the internet. ¶1. (SBU) The Government of Vietnam has begun implementation of a new decision consolidating each responsible ministry's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) efforts and instructing government agencies to develop new programs to deal with the issue. ¶2. (SBU) Issued by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem on behalf of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in November, 2005, Decision 312 requires ministries to create four programs to combat trafficking in persons and establish task forces to plan and monitor implementation, said Nguyen Van Minh, Director of MOLISA's Department of Social Evils Prevention. Minh said the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has been tasked with creating a legal framework on anti-trafficking in persons. The Vietnam Women's Union (VWU) is to manage an Information, Education and Communication program. The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has been put in charge of criminal prosecutions. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) was put in charge of programs to receive and protect trafficking in persons victims. ¶3. (SBU) The decision builds on Decision 130 from July 2004, which created the National Action Plan. The difference is that the National Action Plan (NAP) requests agencies to work out their own plans, while the new decision aims to consolidate and systematize the government response. "They want to have this system institutionalized in law across the various government agencies and this decision does that," he said. ¶4. (SBU) The decision instructs each agency to set up a task force to make a plan and monitor implementation. Minh said MOLISA has begun planning for the program, which will prioritize training for the Departments of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA) in all 64 provinces. MOLISA is also drafting a policy for receiving victims which will comprehensively detail the assistance due to each victim, and specifying the provision of free health care, education, allowances for meals, transportation costs, and personal credit. Local authorities will also facilitate residence registration for victims and provide land for registered victims. ¶5. (SBU) Minh said MOLISA will have VND 300 million (about USD 20,000) for the training program. Further funding for this program and for the 64 labor agencies will be determined at a later date. He added that assistance is ongoing, but until now, support for victims has not been systematic. "We want to have this system institutionalized and this program will do that," Minh said. "Assistance is going on throughout the government but there is no policy that defines what victims get in terms of assistance such as meals, credit, and medical care. So now they want to have specific language in a law and a comprehensive government program with a specific action plan for dealing with trafficking in persons," he said. ¶6. (SBU) "There's an urgent need to deal with this issue in Vietnam," Minh said. "The situation is so serious that it required the government to take active and aggressive action to prevent and tackle trafficking in persons. That's why the Deputy Prime Minister has become involved directly with concerned agencies on this issue." MARINE