About 150 senior officials from Mekong sub-regional countries are
gathering in Hanoi on Feb. 14 for their eighth meeting on fighting
human trafficking (SOM8).
The two-day meeting focuses on
reviewing the implementation of the Mekong sub-region action plan on
human trafficking prevention for 2008- 2010 and discussing the plan for
2012- 2013.
The delegates will also discuss issues related to
dialogues with other forums and the stability of the Coordinated Mekong
Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) after 2013, and
propose six Mekong sub-regional governments sign a join statement to
reaffirm their cooperation on fighting human trafficking.
Addressing
the opening session, Deputy Minister of Public Security Lieut-Gen. Pham
Quy Ngo said that after seven years of implementation, COMMIT helped
all member countries build, issue and carry out their national
programmes and laws to fight human trafficking.
The countries
signed many agreements and memoranda of understanding on bilateral
cooperation in the issue, took preventive measures and launched joint
communication campaigns, bringing effectiveness for each country and the
region, he added.
Ngo, who is also Deputy Head of the National
Steering Committee on Fighting Human Trafficking, said Vietnam has
implemented a number of activities, particularly the National Assembly’s
adoption of the law on fighting human trafficking, the Government’s
launching of the national programmes on fighting human trafficking for
2004-2010 and 2011-2015.
Vietnam has also closely worked with
Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and non-COMMIT countries in activities
relating to the fight against human trafficking, contributing to curb
the increase of such crime, he added.
Initiated in 2003, COMMIT
is a government-led programme engaging the governments of Cambodia,
China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam with a focus of building a
regional agreement on anti-human trafficking.
Following SOM8,
the third Inter-Ministerial Meeting (IMM-3) of the Mekong sub-regional
countries on fighting human trafficking will take place in Hanoi on Feb.
16./.
