Crackdown on human trafficking via tourism
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to investigate and strictly handle organizations and individuals who illegally traffic Vietnamese people abroad via tourism routes, following an incident where 152 Vietnamese tourists went missing in Taiwan (China) late last year, according to the English-language Vietnam News newspaper.
The Office of the Government recently sent letters to MPS, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and people’s committees in centrally-run cities and provinces about the incident in Taiwan.
He directed MPS to work with relevant offices to pursue those using tourism routes to illegally send Vietnamese abroad.
MoFA plans to ask Taiwan to restart the Kuan Hung Pilot Project - an electronic visa program for Vietnamese travel businesses, especially those that book services in Taiwan and apply for Kuan Hung visas for tourists traveling during the Tet holiday. It suspended the issuance of such visas for groups of Vietnamese tourists following the incident.
The Prime Minister also requested the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) to step up communications about the risks and consequences of illegally working abroad.
In December last year, a group of 152 Vietnamese tourists disappeared from their tour group after entering Taiwan through Kaohsiung on special tourism visas.
The tourists, divided into four groups, were passengers referred to the Ho Chi Minh City-based International Holidays Travel Company Limited by two Hanoi-based tourist companies: the Twin Bright Company Limited and the Golden Travel Trade and Tourism Company Limited.
Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) announced that its specialized operations brigade in Kaohsiung have set up a team to work with local police to track down the runaway tourists.
Three days are going missing, eleven of the 152 were temporarily detained for further investigation.
Three were detained by police and accused of violating Taiwan’s anti-human trafficking and immigration laws, as well as its labor code.
He directed MPS to work with relevant offices to pursue those using tourism routes to illegally send Vietnamese abroad.
MoFA plans to ask Taiwan to restart the Kuan Hung Pilot Project - an electronic visa program for Vietnamese travel businesses, especially those that book services in Taiwan and apply for Kuan Hung visas for tourists traveling during the Tet holiday. It suspended the issuance of such visas for groups of Vietnamese tourists following the incident.
The Prime Minister also requested the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) to step up communications about the risks and consequences of illegally working abroad.
In December last year, a group of 152 Vietnamese tourists disappeared from their tour group after entering Taiwan through Kaohsiung on special tourism visas.
The tourists, divided into four groups, were passengers referred to the Ho Chi Minh City-based International Holidays Travel Company Limited by two Hanoi-based tourist companies: the Twin Bright Company Limited and the Golden Travel Trade and Tourism Company Limited.
Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) announced that its specialized operations brigade in Kaohsiung have set up a team to work with local police to track down the runaway tourists.
Three days are going missing, eleven of the 152 were temporarily detained for further investigation.
Three were detained by police and accused of violating Taiwan’s anti-human trafficking and immigration laws, as well as its labor code.
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