"It is impossible to bring the current draft law to life as it will cause a conflict with other legal documents," deputy Chu Son Ha said.

The deputy said it was essential to ensure the anti-trafficking law did not conflict with the criminal code, the criminal procedure code, the anti-prostitution law and the anti-domestic violence law.

Ha said the draft had failed to clearly define what human trafficking was and how best to combat it.

"Only when it is made clear will individuals and organisations be able to take responsibility for human trafficking prevention," he added.

Deputy Tran Thi Quoc Khanh said the law was needed to complete the country's legal system and help Viet Nam co-ordinate with countries in the region and the rest of the world to control and prevent the trafficking of human beings.

She also said the draft lacked clarity and that it had failed to focus on ethnic and poor people, who are the main victims of human trafficking.

Khanh added that the law needed to distinguish between legitimate cases of Vietnamese marrying foreigners, child adoption and job creation. She said if the distinction were not set out, the police and relevant agencies would lack the legal foundation to enforce the law.

She said more money should be allocated to combating human trafficking of ethnic people and the poor – the most vulnerable segments of society.

Meanwhile, Khanh said clauses 3 and 4 only concentrated on payment policies for those combating human trafficking.

She said the draft should also highlight the role of women and youth unions in helping ethnic groups and poor people cope with human trafficking, adding these social organisations were only helping these vulnerable groups boost their household income.

However, deputy Nguyen Ngoc Dao disagreed that ethnic groups were the most vulnerable to human trafficking.

"Human trafficking is mainly found in the provinces of Hai Duong, Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Quang Ninh and Tay Ninh where Kinh people [the ethnic majority] are the focus of traffickers," he said.

Dao also said the draft law compiling board should combine prevention of human trafficking with other programmes designed to fight social evils.

Deputy Nguyen Dinh Quyen said compiling a law on human trafficking would be as difficult as drafting the anti-corruption law.

He agreed with other deputies that the law needed to clearly state what constituted human trafficking and how best to combat it.

Quyen said the draft had also regulated the verification, acceptance, support and protection of people falling victim to human trafficking, but added that the regulation on protecting victims and their relatives would be hard to implement under the current draft.

"The draft needs to be changed in a way to make it feasible to implement. The issue is a challenge globally," he said.

Law on Minerals

Management of the exploration and exploitation of minerals and the interests of cities, provinces and local people living in areas with natural resources were highlighted by deputies yesterday as they discussed changes to the amended draft Law on Minerals.

Deputy Nguyen Danh pointed out that mineral reserves were decreasing in variety and some valuable minerals like coal and oil were being overexploited. The situation needed drastic measures to avoid the waste of mineral resources and preserve valuable assets for younger generations, he added.

The deputy said the draft should stress the State's responsibility to formulate appropriate policies for sustainable development and build a national strategy on mineral exploration and exploitation.

Earlier, chairman of the NA Economics Committee Ha Van Hien told the session that there was a general consensus that a strategy was needed with a long-term vision.

Danh stressed there was a need to consult localities with mineral resources before making a strategy on mineral exploration and exploitation.

Deputy Luu Thi Chi Lan quoted a regulation from the Constitution saying mineral resources were the property of the people and under State management, exploration and exploitation of mineral resources must serve the common development of the country and ensure the interests of local people.

She said that laws and sub-laws documents relevant to exploration and exploitation of mineral resources had merely ensured the interests of enterprises and the State while the interests of the community had been largely ignored.

Article 6 of the draft law currently refers to the interests of people that live in areas rich in mineral resources but Lan recommended that a whole chapter was needed.

She said enterprises were making high profits from mineral resources while local people were suffering from infertile land, polluted water and deteriorating infrastructure.

"The problem has caused contradictions and social conflicts," Lan said.

Deputies Tong Van Tho and Do Manh Hung called on investors to take more responsibility in protecting the environment, reimbursing local communities for polluted water resources, building infrastructure and setting up social welfare funds to mitigate the losses of local people.

Deputies also looked into the power and responsibility of ministries in managing the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources.

They said the draft had given authority to too many ministries including the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Construction in managing the activity.

Deputy Le Quoc Dung suggested the NA assign only the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to either implement State management over the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources or formulate and approve mineral resources planning.

"By so doing, we will be able to ensure high quality planning and simplify administrative procedures," he said. — VNS