AUSTIN, Texas - Last weekend, March 24 thru 26, 2006, over 300 undergraduate and graduate students from across the country attended the 2nd Vietnamese-American Student Conference known as VASCON 2 in Austin, Texas. Students came from all over the country including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The purpose of the conference was to inspire and empower its participants to get involved and make a contribution to build a stronger Vietnamese-American community. Of particular note was a panel to discuss the human trafficking issue and the ongoing campaigns against it.

Lê Anh Đào, Phoebe Lin, Nguyễn KimChi, and Reverend Nguyễn Văn Cường participate in a panel about human trafficking.

The conference program included a variety of speakers from diverse backgrounds and professions ranging from entertainment to human rights activism. Speakers included Journey from the Fall director Hàm Trần, Garden Grove School Board Member Nguyễn-Lâm Kim Oanh, Texas Representative Hubert Võ, two of the highest ranking Vietnamese Americans in elected office, and Reverend Nguyễn Văn Cường from Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides Office in Taiwan.

Specifically, this year human trafficking of Vietnamese women and children was a key focus of the conference. A keynote address, a panel discussion, and table display were dedicated to this important topic. Reverend Nguyễn Văn Cường addressed human trafficking in Taiwan as the keynote speaker during the Saturday morning session. He currently serves as the Associate Executive Director of Vietnamese Migrant Workers & Brides Office (VMWBO) and currently works full time with Reverend Peter Nguyễn Văn Hùng to deliver much needed services to Vietnamese migrant workers and Vietnamese brides in Taiwan.

The Vietnamese Alliance to Combat Trafficking (VietACT) participated in a panel discussion entitled “Human Trafficking: Awareness to Action.” Kim Chi Nguyen, VietACT San Diego Representative and Coordinator of the uNAVSA National Relay Against Trafficking presented specific actions that can be taken by individuals and groups in the efforts to fight human trafficking. Also participating in the panel were Reverend Nguyễn Văn Cường, Nhà Magazine staff writer and women’s rights activist Lê Anh Đào and Phoebe Lin, chair of the UT Anti-Human Trafficking Campaign. Đỗ Lê Anh Đào has recently written articles in Nhà Magazine on human trafficking of Vietnamese victims.

Conference participates were also able to stop by a VietACT table with brochures, slideshows, photo collages and sign-up sheets. Minh T. Nguyen, VietACT San Jose Representative, was also on-site to promote awareness and action and the ongoing National Relay Against Trafficking campaign. He says, “I think it’s amazing that so many students want to get involved with the fight against human trafficking. During Father Cuong’s presentation on the current situation in Taiwan, so many attendees were asking what they can do, and how VietACT comes into play, and we had to point out that we have an entire panel dedicated to this in the afternoon.”

Hai Ton, one of the coordinators of the upcoming uNAVSA conference in July, adds to that "I thought it was a great opportunity to raise awareness and advocacy towards combating human trafficking amongst the next generation of Vietnamese American leaders." Hai expects to see high attendance at the upcoming conference in July, as human trafficking will continued to be addressed there as well.

The first Relay Against Trafficking event took place in Minnesota in early March. The next Relay Against Trafficking event will be held in Austin, Texas. Local student leaders and community groups will be organizing a Human Trafficking Awareness Week from April 24 to 26, 2006.  Other events will continue through June in Washington DC, Southern California, North California, Atlanta, Boston, and Vancouver, Canada.

For more information on VietACT’s Relay Against Trafficking campaign, please visit www.vietact.org or www.unavsa.org.