Vietnam, Belgium promote cooperation in preventing and combating illegal migration
Deputy Minister of Public Security Senior Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang had a meeting with Secretary of State for Refugees and Migration of the Kingdom of Belgium Nicole de Moore, on April 4, 2023, in Hanoi.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Luong Tam Quang said that the bilateral relations between the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam and the Belgian law enforcement agency have seen positive developments in many fields.
The two sides regularly held bilateral conferences and seminars, exchange information, coordinated with each other in investigating transnational cases related to the two nations through bilateral cooperation channels and INTERPOL.
Vietnam and Belgium signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Migration in January 2009, and the two sides achieved positive results in this field.
He two sides also maintained technical meetings every two years to review the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding.
Emphasizing the complicated situation of crimes related to human trafficking and illegal migration while the number of criminal lines with new tricks is increasing, Deputy Minister Luong Tam Quang suggested the two sides continue to improve the legal basis for the bilateral cooperation, say studying and negotiating an agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons, and agreement on extradition between Vietnam and Belgium.
At the same time, the two sides should promote information exchange, experience sharing, information verification, crime prevention and control, and coordinate in investigating cases of human trafficking and illegal migration.
The two sides should also enhance exchange of information about the entry and exit of citizens of each country to detect those who use fake passports and personal documents or those who organize illegal migration related to citizens of the two countries.
Deputy Minister Luong Tam Quang also emphasized the need to strengthen the exchange of high-level delegations and experts to discuss ways to control crime of illegal migration while coordinating to ensure security and safety of diplomatic missions, businessmen, international students and citizens of one country in the other.
In addition, the Deputy Minister suggested that the Belgian side support the Vietnamese side in building capacity of Vietnamese officers and training them in foreign languages and skills to detect fake passports and international documents and fight illegal immigration and human trafficking.
Sincerely thanking the Vietnamese side for its effective cooperation in the field of crime prevention and control of human trafficking and illegal migration, Ms. Nicole de Moor stated, since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in 2009, the cooperation in various fields between the two countries has developed.
Ms. Nicole de Moor affirmed that functional forces still face greate challenges in addressing illegal migration, human smuggling and human trafficking, so the two sides should continue to promote close cooperation to prevent and fight these kinds of crime.
