The MTV Exit campaign, which was launched in Europe in 2004 and has spread to Asia since 2007, aims to raise public awareness of and prevent human trafficking through television programs, live events, and partnerships with anti-trafficking organisations.
Addressing the event, Major General Nguyen Phong Hoa, Head of the Staff Department under the Ministry of Public Security’s General Department of Anti-Crime Police, said that the event illustrates Vietnam’s efforts in the war against human trafficking.
“After our successful 2010 tour in Vietnam, we are thrilled to be back in Vietnam to bring together fantastic international and local artists and continue our campaign against human trafficking,” said MTV Exit Campaign Director Matt Love. “Music is really an incredible force for change and tonight, over 40,000 Vietnamese fans stood up in solidarity to make a statement on this global fight to end modern-day slavery,” he added.
The concert brought together famous Vietnamese singers such as My Tam, To Minh Thang and the Buc Tuong (The Wall) rock band as well as foreign artists including Canada’s Simple Plan rock band, ‘Brown Eyed Girls’ from the Republic of Korea and Australian singer Kate Miller Heldke.
A 30-minute documentary entitled ‘Enslaved: An MTV Exit Special’ was also screened at the event, featuring stories of human trafficking survivors. The film gave the audience a real look at human trafficking and exploitation and called for everyone to join hands and combat this inhuman crime. The film will premiere on Vietnam Television Channel 1 at 9:30 pm and on MTV Vietnam at 11 pm on June 2.
The concert was produced in partnership with the Vietnamese Government, the US Agency for International Development, the Australian Government Agency for International Development, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Walk Free, a movement to end modern-day slavery.
The International Labor Organisation has estimated that about 2.5 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking; over half of them are in Asia and the Pacific region. Criminals earn an estimated US$10 billion every year through buying and selling human beings.
The long line waiting to get into the concert
