Vietnam and UK ink agreement on combating illegal migration

Signatories to the document were Colonel Vu Van Hung, deputy director of the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security, and Michael Tomlinson, Minister of State for Countering Illegal Migration at the Home Office.

Under the document, Vietnam and the UK will strengthen cooperation in communication campaigns to warn of risks from illegal migration to the UK.

They will increase information sharing to prevent visa abuse and continue to facilitate the repatriation of migrants who are not eligible to stay in the UK legally.

They will formulate a joint action plan to protect vulnerable people and prevent human trafficking.

The agreement also includes cooperation between the two countries in promoting legal migration routes to the UK.

The document was signed in London on April 17 (local time) following the April 15 meeting between Vietnamese Minister of Public Security To Lam and British Home Secretary James Cleverly.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed on a series of strong measures to prevent visa abuse, increase intelligence sharing, and continue repatriation of illegal migrants to the UK.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Colonel Vu Van Hung noted Vietnam and the UK have a strong strategic partnership and they are currently celebrating 51 years of diplomatic relations. In addition to cooperation on trade, education, research, technological innovation and climate change, preventing illegal migration and human trafficking is an extremely important field of cooperation, bringing mutual benefits to both countries.

He affirmed that both sides are committed to working together to ensure the provision of safe and legal migration routes, while protecting victims of human trafficking.

Omlinson for his part emphasized that illegal migration is a global problem that needs global solutions. He said the signed document is an important step in cooperation with an important partner like Vietnam to ensure that both sides work together to prevent exploitation by human trafficking gangs and save the lives of victims.

In March, the British Home Office launched a social media campaign in Vietnam to warn about the risks of traveling across the English Channel to the UK by steamboat.

According to the British Home Office, the past two years saw 76,000 people from countries around the world cross the English Channel by steamboat to reach Britain. The number of deaths on this dangerous journey tripled in 2023 compared to the previous year. Since 2019, 65 people have died crossing the sea from France to England.