US report ignores Vietnam's efforts against human trafficking: foreign ministry

"The U.S. Department of State has released a 2022 report on human trafficking around the world with unverified information that does not accurately and comprehensively reflect Vietnam's human trafficking situation and its efforts to fight and prevent it," foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meet.

The report, released July 19, says Vietnam has not met minimum standards in its efforts to eliminate the practice of human trafficking.

It also places Vietnam in the "Tier 3" blacklist, which can subject countries to U.S. sanctions. Other countries in the list are Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Malaysia and Myanmar.

"We want the U.S. to have closer cooperation with us in the coming time so that there can be a comprehensive evaluation on Vietnam's human trafficking situation and its efforts to fight and prevent it. We are also willing to hold exchanges with the U.S. and relevant parties on specific cooperation issues to effectively deploy measures to combat and prevent human trafficking," Hang said.

The foreign affairs ministry, along with the ministries of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, National Defense and Public Security signed on July 18 a statute on receiving, protecting and supporting human trafficking victims.

Deputy public security minister Tran Quoc To said 80 percent of human trafficking victims were taken to countries that shared land borders with Vietnam. Since 2011, thousands of human trafficking victims have been found and rescued by the police, he added.

Vietnam has a land border of around 5,000 km with China in the north, Laos in the west and Cambodia in the southwest.