Vietnam on December 16 denounced the United States’ inclusion of the country in its special watch list for alleged engagement in and tolerance of religious freedom violations as a decision that is based on an “unobjective assessment” and incorrect information.
“Vietnam’s consistent policy is to respect and ensure human rights as well as the freedom of religion and belief,” Pham Thu Hang, deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during the regular press briefing.
“This freedom was established in the 2013 Constitution as well as relevant legal documents and has been ensured and respected in practice,” Hang noted, adding that recently, Vietnam has consistently improved the legal system as well as policies on religion and belief and Vietnam’s efforts and achievements in ensuring freedom of religion and belief and has been widely acknowledged by the international community.
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| Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu hang__Photo: VNA |
“The US’ placing of Vietnam on a special watch list regarding religious freedom is based on the unobjective assessment as well as factually incorrect information regarding the situation of religious and belief freedom in Vietnam,” the spokesperson stressed.
“Vietnam stands ready to discuss with the US issues of mutual interest on the basis of openness, candidness and mutual respect, contributing to the strengthening of the comprehensive partnership between the two countries,” Hang told reporters.
Combating human trafficking
A question was also raised over the issue of Vietnamese women being illegally trafficked to China and forced to marry Chinese men many years ago, with the recent cases of two women in Quang Binh Province returning home and reuniting with their families.
“It is the consistent policy of the government of Vietnam to promote legal, safe and orderly immigration and to remain resolute in fighting against illegal immigration smuggling and human trafficking,” Hang said.
“In the past, Vietnam has drastically promoted the prevention of and fight against human trafficking, and intensively implemented the Human Trafficking Prevention and Control program for the 2021-25 period with a vision towards 2030. The program has provided new solutions and tasks to help prevent human trafficking in all sectors,” the spokesperson said.
“We have also been working to implement the goals of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in accordance with a plan issued by the Vietnamese Government Prime Minister on March 28, 2020. This is to create a transparent immigration environment, protect the legal rights and interests of migrants, and prevent the risk of human trafficking in international immigration activities,” the spokesperson said.
Hang also highlighted the fact that Vietnam has also stepped up cooperation with other countries and organizations, including the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to prevent, detect, investigate and handle illegal immigration in accordance with the law.
“We also stand ready to share and coordinate with all the countries to timely handle relevant incidents to ensure legal and safe immigration for the legitimate rights and interests of migrants,” she noted.
Right now, Vietnamese authorities are closely cooperating with Chinese counterparts in accordance with a bilateral agreement framework between the two countries on strengthening cooperation in the prevention and combat of human trafficking and other cooperation frameworks such as the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (known as COMMIT), according to the foreign ministry's spokesperson.
Following the direction of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnamese representative agencies in China will continue to actively coordinate with Chinese authorities and domestic agencies to further enhance the effective implementation of the agreement, and effectively provide timely repatriation, protection and support for people returning home from human trafficking, the spokesperson said.
Spratlys issue
The foreign ministry's deputy spokesperson was also asked about the satellite reports from the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies released on December 14, which showed Vietnam has conducted a major expansion of dredging and landfill work at some of the outposts in Truong Sa (Spratlys).
