Europe: Vietnamese migrants subjected to labour abuse in low-wage industries after recruitment via "moi gioi" brokers

 

The Business and Human Rights Centre | 2026.9.17

 

A report by The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, published in September 2026, analyses the trafficking and exploitation of Vietnamese migrants in Europe.

Read the full report here.

The report finds the exploitation of Vietnamese workers is facilitated through the use of the "moi gioi" (intermediaries who connect migrants to employers, traffickers, smugglers and other brokers). The workers' migration is financed through debt via payments to brokers, which is then repaid through exploitative labour alongside forced criminality and sexual exploitation.

The migrants were often sold a package deal and were forced to borrow money or mortgage assets to pay for the journey. These debts are then repaid through exploitative labour, including in nail salons, restaurants, food-processing factories, hospitality, manufacturing and other low-wage sectors.

Vietnamese workers are also subjected to forced criminality and sexual exploitation, including in cannabis cultivation in the UK.

The report argues that policy responses should prioritise dismantling the organised criminal networks embedded within the broker ecosystem, alongside expanding regulated migration pathways.

 

 

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