Vietnam, UK cooperate in fighting illegal immigration

The dialogue was part of U.K. Home Office Permanent Under-Secretary Matthew Rycroft’s two-day visit to Vietnam.

The dialogue aimed to improve migration cooperation, deliver on the potential of the existing migration partnership and discuss key issues, including four pillars: communication on immigration and safe migration, migrant returns, fraudulent documents and updated policies on immigration and migration management, and addressing human trafficking.

Rycroft and Luong Tam Quang, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Public Security, discussed collaboration in tackling serious organized crimes with a focus on human trafficking and supporting and protecting victims, the British Embassy in Hanoi said in a statement.

“Tackling illegal migration and human trafficking is hugely important and mutually beneficial to both countries,” Rycroft said.

“We are committed to working together on ensuring safe and legal routes to the U.K. as well as protecting victims of human trafficking, and putting an end to this awful crime.”

The U.K. and Vietnam have a strong migration relationship, especially after their joint investigation of the tragedy in Essex back in 2019 when 39 Vietnamese people had lost their life in a container truck en route into the U.K.

According the British Embassy, Vietnam is the third country among those referred to in the U.K. National Referral Mechanism as suspected victims of human trafficking in 2021, which illustrates the dangers Vietnamese nationals may face as irregular migrants.