Vietnam and the United Kingdom are in talks to resolve immigration and asylum issues

DNHN - On August 15, the inaugural "United Kingdom-Vietnam Immigration and Migration" Dialogue was held in Hanoi to resolve issues and promote immigration and migration cooperation in the context of persons residing in Vietnam. When Vietnamese unlawfully enter the United Kingdom, they run the danger of being exploited.

The debate was co-chaired by UK Home Secretary Matthew Rycroft and Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Public Security, Senior Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang.

The event aimed to improve migration cooperation by unlocking the potential of existing migration partnerships and discussing key issues, including four pillars: immigration communication and safe migration; repatriation; the problem of forging documents and new immigration policies; and preventing and combating human trafficking.

The discussion was part of UK Home Secretary Matthew Rycroft's two-day visit to Vietnam. During this period, Secretary of State Rycroft met with Vietnam's Minister of Public Security, Deputy Minister of National Defense, and Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

The two parties addressed cooperation in the fight against organized crime, including human trafficking, as well as prospects for collaboration in capacity building, training, assistance, and protection.

UK Home Secretary Matthew Rycroft commented on the visit, saying, "The UK and Vietnam are significant strategic allies, and we look forward to marking the 50th anniversary of the start of foreign relations between the two nations by 2023." We are dedicated to cooperating to provide safe and lawful immigration routes into the UK, to safeguard victims of human trafficking, and to eradicate prejudice against victims of this crime."

It is known that in January 2022, UK Home Affairs Secretary Matthew Rycroft met with the Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK and proposed the formation of a working group to promote UK-Vietnam migration cooperation.

On June 13, 2022, the Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Kingdom met with the British Interior Minister, and the two sides agreed to arrange a bilateral conversation on migration and immigration.

From coordinating the investigation of the Essex disaster (which left 39 Vietnamese dead in the back of a refrigerated truck in Essex as a result of human trafficking) people and illegal migrants) to the successful organization of three repatriation flights by 2021, the UK and Vietnam have a close working relationship on migration and immigration issues.

Both parties want to keep this strong working relationship going. However, there are some problems and difficulties that the two nations must work together to overcome.

Vietnam is also one of three nations with the greatest number of persons awaiting verification as victims of human trafficking to be included in the UK National Referral Mechanism in 2021. This demonstrates the potential of exploitation for Vietnamese persons who enter the UK illegally.

Ha Anh