HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine has urged the host country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to quickly work with relevant agencies to clarify the unwarranted raid and property confiscation of Vietnamese citizens in Odessa city on May 23.
Head of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department Lý Quốc Tuấn said on Thursday that the embassy has consecutively met with representatives from the Ukrainian ministry and requested them to take all necessary urgent measures to protect the legitimate rights of the overseas Vietnamese in Odessa.
The embassy also dispatched a delegation to work with the Vietnamese Association in Odessa to count the confiscated properties and help Vietnamese expatriates report the incident to local authority, he added.
The Vietnam embassy officials had working session with Odessa’s administration authorities and police chief to quickly verify the case and enact specific measures to protect the legitimate rights of the Vietnamese citizens, he said.
The Vietnamese people were told to keep calm and avoid legal violations in the host country while closely working with relevant local agencies to handle the issue.
Russian and Ukrainian television reported that some 200 overseas Vietnamese protested in front of the Odessa regional prosecutor’s office on May 24 against the Kiev tax staff and Ukrainian general prosecutor for raiding their houses on May 23 without necessary documents.
Vietnamese expatriates, who live in the Vietnamese quarter called Làng Sen (Lotus Village) on Grushevskogo street, Odessa, confirmed that tax staff took at least US$500,000 and other valuables.
On May 24, Deputy Foreign Minister Vũ Hồng Nam met with Ukrainian Ambassador to Việt Nam Oleksiy Shovkoplias in Hà Nội asking Ukraine to tighten security measures to protect Vietnamese expats.
He urged the Ukrainian diplomat to request relevant agencies to identify responsible people and motives and return the confiscated property.
Vice Governor of Odessa Salomia Bobrovskaya has then apologised to the Vietnamese community in the city for the unwarranted raids on their houses in Làng Sen (Lotus Village) on Grushevskogo street. — VNS