On the regulations guiding the handling of foreign criminals

In recent times, implementing the open-door policy, strengthening foreign relations, proactively and actively integrating into the international economy of the Party and State, many documents on State management have been issued; in which, the document stipulates simpler and easier entry procedures, creating conditions for foreigners to enter Vietnam for investment, market research, visiting relatives, tourism... in order to attract external resources to serve the socio-economic development of the country. In particular, there are regulations allowing Vietnamese representative agencies abroad to issue 15-day visas (D visas) to foreigners who want to enter Vietnam, without the need for domestic agencies or organizations to sponsor. Vietnam has signed bilateral agreements on visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders with 56 countries in the world; in the ASEAN bloc (except Myanmar), visa exemption has been granted to citizens holding ordinary passports for a maximum period of 30 days; Unilaterally expand visa exemption for citizens of many countries...
With open policies and simple and easy entry procedures, the number of foreigners entering Vietnam is increasing, diverse in composition, with many different purposes (every year, there are 4 - 5 million foreigners entering Vietnam; in 2009 alone, there were about 3.5 million). Currently, there are about 75,000 foreigners residing, doing business and living in Vietnam.
Recently, there have been cases of foreigners entering Vietnam under various names for the purpose of committing crimes. From January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, there were 826 crimes involving foreign elements involving 1,026 subjects nationwide (including: 593 Chinese, 51 Korean, 29 Cambodian, 20 Iranian, 19 Lao, 17 Turkish, 155 unknown...). Crimes committed by foreigners are very diverse (murder, robbery, snatching, theft, drug trafficking, cross-border smuggling, counterfeit money trafficking, bank fraud, illegal tour guide business, illegal medical facility opening, illegal marriage brokerage...); Many cases were very serious, causing public outrage. The police force initiated investigations into 45 cases with 138 defendants; arrested and detained 119 subjects of 18 nationalities related to 23 types of crimes.
Regarding the provisions on handling foreigners who commit crimes: According to the current legal provisions of our State, except for those with diplomatic status who are exempt from criminal liability, the remaining policies basically do not distinguish between foreigners and Vietnamese. However, foreigners who commit illegal acts in Vietnam may be prosecuted for criminal liability for the crime of staying in Vietnam illegally (Article 274, Penal Code 1999) and may be subject to a special penalty of deportation. On August 23, 2001, the Government issued Decree No. 54/2001/ND-CP guiding the implementation of the penalty of deportation; in which, specifically regulates the subjects of deportation, the rights and obligations of the deportees, the responsibilities and powers of the agency executing the deportation penalty, the order and procedures for executing the deportation penalty... Furthermore, to ensure the rights and responsibilities in protecting the interests of citizens of the country of which the offender is a national, we have issued separate, specific documents on the information regime in the arrest and handling of foreign criminals for the diplomatic and consular representative agencies of that country (Directive No. 21/2000/CT-TTg dated October 16, 2000 of the Prime Minister on notification and consular contact with foreign citizens and Vietnamese people holding foreign passports who are arrested, detained, temporarily imprisoned or serving prison sentences in Vietnam, Circular No. 01/TTLT dated September 8, 1988 of the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Ministry of the Interior (now the Ministry of Public Security), the Ministry of Justice). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs guides the investigation and handling of violations of road traffic laws caused by foreign people and vehicles...).

In practice, the fight against foreign criminals in Vietnam is facing many difficulties and problems, namely:
- Some countries have not signed cooperation or extradition agreements, so when we discover their citizens committing crimes on Vietnamese territory, it is very difficult to handle.
- The conditions for ensuring the investigation and handling of foreign criminals do not meet the requirements (place of detention, interpreters, technical means, funding, etc.). For Africans in Ho Chi Minh City, most of them entered the country illegally and resided there, so deportation is difficult because it involves foreign affairs and human rights issues.
- The sophisticated and cunning means and methods of criminal activities of foreigners are a new problem in the work of preventing and combating these subjects.
- Border control and inspection work still has loopholes and lacks professionalism, so recently many Africans have illegally entered our country from Cambodia. Currently, according to the International Organization for Migration, there are thousands of people of African origin in Thailand, China, and Cambodia, many of whom have overstayed their visas. Therefore, if we do not continue to do a good job of border control and management, illegal entry into Vietnam may recur as before.
- Some localities, agencies and organizations have not yet strictly complied with regulations on temporary residence declaration for foreigners.
- It is very difficult to keep violators for processing and repatriation. Many of them do not have passports and have to wait for their embassies to check and reissue them (the Ministry of Public Security does not have a place to keep this type of person; the administrative detention period is not more than 48 hours), so the above subjects are mainly still managed by accommodation facilities. However, keeping foreign violators for a long time to wait for them to be repatriated (the exact time is not determined) without trial must be institutionalized into law; therefore, it cannot be implemented immediately.

At the same time, continue to research and propose additional laws and regulations on sanctions for violations of Vietnamese law by foreigners; in the immediate future, research and supplement and amend Decree No. 150/2005/ND-CP of the Government on administrative sanctions for violations in the field of security and order and develop the Law on Entry, Exit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam.
To proactively prevent and combat foreigners committing crimes in Vietnam, the Ministry of Public Security has implemented the Project "Public Security Work to Ensure Security and Order After Vietnam Joins the WTO"; directed functional units to coordinate with enterprises to implement crime prevention plans during the process of business cooperation with foreign partners and directed forces to strengthen the management of foreigners from entry to residence and operation in Vietnam. At the same time, continue to research and propose additional laws and regulations on sanctions for violations of Vietnamese law by foreigners; in the immediate future, research and supplement and amend Decree No. 150/2005/ND-CP of the Government on administrative sanctions in the field of security and order and develop the Law on Entry, Exit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam.