Tuesday 05 October 2021 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
This webinar is part of the ILPA Representing Victims of Trafficking Series. We are also running webinars focusing on Albanian (7th Sep) and Nigerian (9th Nov) victims of trafficking.
The shocking discovery of 39 Vietnamese migrants, dead in the back of a lorry in Essex in October 2019, shed a stark light on the plight of Vietnamese migrants who are smuggled or trafficked to the UK. The investigation and trial into the men responsible for their deaths provided unprecedented insight into the routes taken by thousands of Vietnamese people over the past twenty years, and into the exploitation and debt bondage that many face as part of that journey. Yet the smuggling and trafficking of Vietnamese people to the UK has not abated since; in fact, according to some experts, it has simply increased the price of the journey.
In this webinar we will explore the best ways to represent Vietnamese victims of trafficking in their trafficking claims before the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and their asylum claims before the Home Office/ First-tier Tribunal. There is currently no Country Guidance case from the Upper Tribunal regarding risk to Vietnamese trafficking victims, making it all the more important to build each individual case as comprehensively as possible. While some of the tactics, evidence and legal arguments discussed will be applicable to victims of trafficking from other countries, this webinar will focus explicitly on building the strongest case for Vietnamese victims.
This webinar will examine the following:
• Common bases for Vietnamese trafficking claims and how to best present these (i.e. trafficking for sexual exploitation; for criminality – i.e. cannabis farming; and for forced labour – i.e. nail bars);
• Common reasons for negative NRM decisions in and how to prevent/ challenge these;
• Common reasons for negative asylum decisions and how to prevent/ challenge these;
• Examining the objective country material and how to use it to maximum advantage (i.e. understanding the US State Department TIP rankings; the Asylos/ ARC report, etc.);
• Examining Home Office documents, including the Vietnamese trafficking CPIN and Fact Finding Mission reports, including how to use these to maximum advantage and/ or challenging or distinguishing their findings where necessary;
• Vietnamese trafficking victims as a Particular Social Group (PSG);
• The importance of expert evidence including medical evidence (also addressing issues of vulnerability) and country evidence;
• The particular position of male victims;
• Problems of internal relocation including the Household Registration system;
• Sufficiency of Protection and the authorities approach to trafficking (problems with the Vietnamese NRM and non recognition of victims identified overseas; the exception for labour exploitation cases; corruption);
• The relevance of Country Guidance cases from other countries (i.e. Nigeria, Albania) on Vietnamese claims;
• How to address the case of Nguyen (Anti-Trafficking Convention: respondent's duties) [2015] UKUT 170 (IAC) (which is not country guidance but is often used by the Home Office as such); and
• How to build a case for Article 8 ECHR/ very significant obstacles due to stigma/ discrimination faced by Vietnamese trafficking victims.
Please book at https://ilpa.org.uk/event/web-1118-vietnam-representing-victims-of-trafficking-in-their-trafficking-and-asylum-claims-part-2/