Organized for others to enter illegally during the COVID-19 epidemic situation in Vietnam

At the first instance criminal Judgment 11/2021/HS-ST dated May 26, 2021 on the crime of organizing the illegal entry of others for defendant Vo Van S, the summary is as follows:

"Defendant Vo Van S has household registration in An Giang province. In 2000, S and his family moved to Cambodia to live and were granted a permanent residence card for foreigners. Due to living near the Vietnam- Cambodia border area and knowing the way, he has organized many times to bring people illegally from Cambodia to Vietnam by motorboat with the purpose of earning money to spend. Specifically, the defendant organized 03 times to bring  06 people from Cambodia Illegal entry into Vietnam:

- On October 5, 2020 and October 22, 2020, the accused brought 02 people who do not know their names and addresses from Cambodia to illegally enter the area of ​​C town, An Giang province and received the amount of 2,000,000 VND.

- On October 26, 2020, the defendant brought 04 people including Le Van T, Thoi M, Grov Chung Kh, Heng B to illegally enter Vietnam, arrived in district H, Dong Thap province, and was caught red-handed and did not receive it."

At the first instance of judgment, the People's Court of Dong Thap province sentenced defendant Vo Van S to 5 years in prison for the crime of "organizing others to enter illegally".

The act of organizing illegal entry for others is expressed in the following forms:

- Bringing foreigners across Vietnam's border without permission.

- Helping, harboring, concealing, and facilitating other people's entry.

- Illegal entry into Vietnam's border.

Depending on the type of behavior, the level of punishment also increases or decreases according to the dangerous nature as well as the level of behavior. For the acts of defendant S, the Court has applied points b, c, Clause 2, Article 348 of the 2015 Criminal Code:

Article 348. Brokering illegal entry, exit or stay in Vietnam

1. Any person who, for self-seeking purposes, brokers the illegal entry, exit or stay in Vietnam of another person shall face a penalty of 01 - 05 years' imprisonment.

2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 05 - 10 years' imprisonment:

...

b) The offence has been committed more than once;

c) The offence involves 05 - 10 people;

..."

Besides, according to the instructions in Official Dispatch 1557/VKSTC-V1 dated April 20, 2021 of the Supreme People's Procuracy:

- If organizing or brokering for other people to illegally exit or enter the country but have not been able to cross the border but have been detected or arrested, the violators will still have to bear penal liability for the crime "Organizing and brokering for others to illegally exit or enter” (Article 348 of the Criminal Code 2015) 

- If sending people who have entered illegally into the interior of Vietnam:

+ If the hirer knows in advance about the illegal entry into Vietnam, but for the sake of an agreement or receives the will of the organizer, broker, or leads the person deep into the interior of Vietnam, the case shall be handled. “Crime of organizing or brokering for others to enter illegally” (Article 348 of the Criminal Code 2015) as an accomplice.

+ If it is known that another person has illegally entered Vietnam, but self-interest has led that person into the interior of Vietnam to stay and find a job, the crime of "organizing others in Vietnam" shall be handled illegally returned to Vietnam” (Article 348 of the Criminal Code 2015).

In the complicated situation of the current epidemic, the act of organizing others to enter illegally is considered one of 14 illegal acts in the prevention of COVID-19. This is very dangerous behavior because in case the person who was brought in illegally is infected with COVID-19, this person will have the ability to spread the disease to the community because it is not controlled by the competent authority. Therefore, the person who commits the act and the person who illegally enters the country when detected will be severely and appropriately punished with the consequences. In addition to the crime of "Organizing others to enter illegally", the person who commits the act may also be examined for penal liability for the crime of "Violating regulations on exit and entry" (Article 347 of the Criminal Code 2015) and Crime of "spreading dangerous infectious diseases to people" (Article 240 of the Criminal Code 2015).

In conclusion, it can be seen that although the Government and local authorities have issued many warnings and recommendations to require people to comply with regulations on epidemic prevention to ensure the safety of everyone's health, there are still subjects with intentional violations and organizations that bring people into Vietnam illegally for personal gain. For these subjects, it is necessary to promptly detect and handle them strictly in accordance with the law, to avoid unfortunate consequences. In addition, it is necessary to tighten security and strengthen the arrangement of security forces in border areas and areas adjacent to foreign countries to more closely control the number of people entering and leaving Vietnam's territory.

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