First Successful Implementation of the National Referral Mechanism in Ha Giang

Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation has successfully partnered with the Vietnamese government to implement the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to support victims of trafficking in Ha Giang province for the first time. As the Fund’s partner in Vietnam, Blue Dragon has assisted four survivors and their families to access benefits from the NRM thus far.

The NRM is the set of regulations that instructs government officials on how to identify and refer victims of trafficking to rehabilitation services and support survivors in receiving assistance and care. While the NRM is designed to ensure that victims of trafficking receive the support they require to overcome their trafficking experiences, reintegrate into the community, and avoid re-trafficking, fully implementing it has been a challenge across Vietnam.

Previous to the GFEMS and Blue Dragon intervention in Ha Giang, few victims were being identified and none had received financial assistance or support services for reintegration. Many victims returned to their communities without assistance and were unaware of how to seek victim support or services. Ha Giang, like many other provinces, faced difficulties in ensuring the interagency collaboration necessary to apply NRM policies. As part of the project, Blue Dragon aimed to support government partners in Ha Giang to develop an effective provincial level mechanism for implementation of the NRM policies.

With support from GFEMS, Blue Dragon and relevant government authorities, primarily the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (DoLISA) and the police, tested the NRM by applying it in one district of Ha Giang. Four survivors of trafficking who had recently returned from exploitation in China were identified. Local DoLISA staff worked with police to confirm the victims’ identities and experiences. After receiving their identity confirmation certificates, the province released an emergency assistance payment for each survivor as stipulated in the policy. The certificates also qualified each survivor for reintegration services, such as free vocational training, health care, and psychological care, should they choose to seek them.

After this initial success in one district, Blue Dragon is now collaborating with DoLISA to support NRM implementation throughout the entire province. Under this project, DoLISA is conducting a review of current and potential barriers to implementation. The review will result in a provincial level report on challenges and recommendations for improving implementation, to be shared and discussed in a stakeholder workshop including police, border guards, and the Ha Giang Women’s Union. The end result will be formal guidelines on implementation across Ha Giang, enabling local level officials to have a better understanding of how to identify and refer victims to services. Through this process, more victims will receive access to the services to which they are entitled.

Successful implementation of the NRM across Ha Giang will result in effective cooperation between agencies for victim identification and support, the identification of more victims, and response by providers trained in victim-centered approaches. This will ensure that victims receive protection from the risk of re-trafficking and traumatization and support from local resources and government, with the aim of building survivor confidence to successfully reintegrate into their communities.

GFEMS and Blue Dragon look forward to sharing future updates on the implementation of the NRM in Ha Giang. To keep updated on this story, subscribe to the Fund’s newsletter and follow us on Twitter.

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