Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department provides to non-governmental organisations working in Vietnam to combat child trafficking and to help repatriated victims of trafficking.

Mr Hugo Swire

We currently fund a range of projects in Vietnam targeted at raising awareness of and combating modern slavery and human trafficking through victim reintegration programmes. There is a focus on alternative job creation for victims, and potential victims of trafficking.

In particular, our British Ambassador opened Compassion House in June 2013, a UK funded shelter in Lao Cai on the Chinese border for girls who have been trafficked. It is operated by the local government authorities in conjunction with a local non-govermental organisations, Pacific Links Foundation to provide life skills and vocational training.

Our Embassy also funds the ‘Capacity Building Activities for Victims of Gender-Based Violence’ project which provides support for women and children in Vietnam who have suffered from gender-based violence and the effects of human trafficking.