On 21 July 2022, in response to the question about Viet Nam’s response to the publishing of the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report of the U.S. Department of State, Ms. Le Thi Thu Hang, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that:

The U.S. Department of State’s 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report contained certain inaccurate information that has not fully and accurately reflected Viet Nam’s circumstances pertaining to human trafficking, and Viet Nam’s efforts to prevent this issue.

Since February 2021, following the implementation of the Human Trafficking Prevention and Combat Program for 2021-2025, with a vision towards 2030, Viet Nam has been stepping up efforts to prevent and combat human trafficking, with the strong focus and participation of all Ministries, agencies and localities. Viet Nam has promulgated a great many legal documents guiding the enforcement of the 2020 Law on Vietnamese guest workers. Viet Nam has also put forth other policies and laws on preventing human trafficking and forced labor, supported trafficked victims, and protected children on cyberspace. In reality, Viet Nam has been following with keen attention the situation pertaining to domestic and cross-border human trafficking, so as to come up with suitable countermeasures and mitigate the challenges caused by COVID-19. In addition, Viet Nam is actively bolstering its efforts in realizing its Implementation Plan for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), in order to ensure a transparent environment for migration, and prevent trafficking risks in international migration. On 18 July 2022, in anticipation of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (on 30 July), the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed a Coordination Protocol in receiving, protecting and supporting trafficked victims.

In this spirit, we hope that the U.S., in the time to come, will continue to work closely with Viet Nam in ensuring a comprehensive assessment on the circumstances pertaining to human trafficking in Viet Nam, and Viet Nam’s efforts to combat said issue. We stand ready to engage in exchanges with the U.S. and relevant parties on concrete cooperation issues, so as to together implement human trafficking efforts in an effective manner./.