Belgium is a transit country for Vietnamese migrants trying to reach the United Kingdom irregularly. People in Vietnam are given false promises about work and prosperity, but ultimately end up in particularly harrowing situations of exploitation. Last year, the Federal Migration Center Myria devoted extensive attention to this problem in its annual report.

Belgium and Vietnam are already working together to combat human smuggling and to prevent victims from falling into traps. Last year, both countries agreed on an action plan. In this context, various exchanges took place between migration services, shelter projects for victims, but also the police and the judiciary. Nicole de Moor and her Vietnamese colleagues want to further strengthen this cooperation.

Last year, 17 irregularly staying Vietnamese persons returned to Vietnam and De Moor wants to increase that number. De Moor agreed with her Vietnamese colleagues that the Immigration Office would provide digital fingerprints of Vietnamese people, to enable faster identification. This identification is crucial to ultimately be able to send people back to their country of origin. In addition, it was agreed that Belgium will support the Vietnamese immigration service with training, including for detecting forged travel documents.

For further information, please read the following press release (in Dutch).