| | Vietnam’s use of forced labor as drug treatment clearly violates international law, including ILO Convention 29, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The detention centers are also an ineffective form of drug treatment: it is estimated that over 90 percent of former detainees return to using drugs shortly after release. In 2012, twelve UN agencies, including the ILO, World Health Organization (WHO), and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), issued a joint public statement calling for the closure of compulsory drug detention centers, citing the use of forced labor and the lack of evidence-based drug treatment.<ref>[https://laborrights.org/our-work/forced-labor-vietnam Forced Labor in Vietnam]</ref>}} | | Vietnam’s use of forced labor as drug treatment clearly violates international law, including ILO Convention 29, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The detention centers are also an ineffective form of drug treatment: it is estimated that over 90 percent of former detainees return to using drugs shortly after release. In 2012, twelve UN agencies, including the ILO, World Health Organization (WHO), and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), issued a joint public statement calling for the closure of compulsory drug detention centers, citing the use of forced labor and the lack of evidence-based drug treatment.<ref>[https://laborrights.org/our-work/forced-labor-vietnam Forced Labor in Vietnam]</ref>}} |
| | + | {{Cquote|Vietnam is a source and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subject to sex trafficking and forced labour. Vietnam’s labour export companies, most of which are affiliated with state-owned companies, and unlicensed intermediary brokers, have been known to charge workers illegally high fees for the opportunity to work abroad. Vietnamese men and women also migrate through informal labour recruitment companies in the construction, fishing, agriculture, mining, logging, and manufacturing sectors primarily to South Asia and the Middle East. |
| | + | Some of these workers subsequently face conditions of forced labour. Through unlicensed intermediary brokers, Vietnamese workers incur some of the highest debts among Asian expatriate workers, making them highly vulnerable to forced labour, especially debt bondage. Upon arrival in destination countries, some workers find themselves compelled to work in bad conditions for little to no pay, despite large debts, and no viable legal recourse. |