Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Vietnam
Newsline: Vietnamese Embassy complains workers maltreated in Russia
Forty Vietnamese labourers working in Russia’s Ekaterinburg City have claimed that they were badly treated, and their cases are being investigated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ General Consulate. The Vietnamese Embassy to Russia moved to look into the case and provide support for the workers according to the guidelines and responsibilities for citizen protection. The labourers left their homes in the northern provinces of Ha Nam, Hung Yen and Bac Giang, and were taken to Russia in January to work at a leather garments factory in Ekaterinburg. They complained to their families on the phone that they were being exploited, forced to work up to 13 hours per day in poor conditions without being paid. In a similar case, which involved another 36 Vietnamese labourers who said that they were not paid enough and were working without medical insurance, the department asked the relevant Vietnamese labour export company to work directly with their Russia partners to solve the problem. Those workers are now waiting for repatriation in Moscow because their labour contracts were cut short by their employers.
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20120507-344294.html
Newsline: Hanoi official ‘rude’ to US embassy staff
Dang Quoc Dung, deputy chief of Ha Tay customs office in Hanoi, had an argument with a diplomat at the US embassy based in Hanoi following their slight car collision. Dung even spoke ‘rudely’ to the staff and security guards of the embassy after they tried to intervene in the conflict. Local traffic officers arrived up and tried to determine Dung’s concentration of alcohol, but he ignored their requests.
http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/society/hanoi-official-rude-to-us-embassy-staff-1.65524
Newsline: Vietnamese embassy still operates normally in Libya
If the situation in Libya is getting worse, the Vietnamese Embassy may move to neighbouring countries, said Vietnamese ambassador Dao Duy Tien. He said the embassies of the US and other western countries have closed while those of Asian, Latin American, and African countries are still in operation. All staff of the Vietnamese embassy located in a highliy-populated area in the capital city of Tripoli remain safe.
http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Vietnamese-embassy-still-operates-normally-in-Libya/20113/124953.vov
Newsline: Vietnam media claims US diplomat shoved local official
Vietnam’s state-controlled media on Friday accused an American diplomat of creating a public disturbance during an incident in which he was reportedly roughed up by Vietnamese police for attempting to visit a prominent dissident. The U.S. has filed a strong protest over the incident Wednesday in the central city of Hue, calling it a matter of grave concern. The Thanh Nien newspaper, one of Vietnam’s most popular, quoted unidentified witnesses as saying U.S. Embassy political officer Christian Marchant shouted curses in English and Vietnamese, shoved a local official and punched another person in the face. A U.S. official in Washington said Marchant was attempting to visit Catholic priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a pro-democracy dissident, when he was roughed up and a car door was repeatedly slammed on his legs. U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia reported that Marchant was wrestled to the ground, put into a police car and driven away.
http://world.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=26174&external=664340.proteus.fma
Newsline: US protests over Vietnam treatment of diplomat
The United States said Thursday it had strongly protested to Vietnam after an American diplomat was allegedly manhandled and briefly detained by police while trying to visit a dissident Catholic priest. “This is a very serious incident,” US ambassador Michael Michalak told reporters. He said the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations was “crystal clear” that all governments must ensure the safety and security of diplomats. “The United States government, both here in Hanoi and in Washington, has lodged a strong, official protest with the government of Vietnam regarding the treatment of one of our diplomats,” Michalak said. He declined to give details but a source with knowledge of the incident said it happened in the central city of Hue on Wednesday. Security officials prevented the diplomat from entering a building to visit Father Nguyen Van Ly, with whom he had an appointment, the source said. When the diplomat persisted, there was a “physical confrontation” that led to his temporary detention and left him “shaken”, said the source, who did not want to be named. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said Vietnam “always creates favourable conditions” for diplomats to operate under international law. “At the same time, the diplomatic corps and diplomats have the responsibility to respect the laws of the host country as well as the Vienna Convention,” she told a news conference, adding that Vietnamese authorities “are reviewing” what happened in Hue. Human Rights Watch identified the US diplomat as Christian Marchant — a political officer at the Hanoi embassy — and said the “assault” against him provides more evidence that “Vietnam’s police are out of control.”
Newsline: US diplomat attacked by Vietnamese police
An American diplomat was attacked by police in central Vietnam, the U.S. Embassy said Thursday. A media report said the human rights officer was roughed up while trying to meet with a prominent dissident. U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia said Christian Marchant, a political officer at the embassy in Hanoi, was attacked by police Wednesday outside the home of Catholic priest Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly. It cited Ly as saying Marchant was wrestled to the ground by authorities and later put into a police car and driven away. Marchant’s work on human rights was recently recognized with an award from the State Department. The U.S. Embassy did not release specific details about the incident, but confirmed that a diplomat was roughed up in the central city of Hue. “We are aware of and deeply concerned by the incident in Hue and have officially registered a strong protest with the Vietnamese government in Hanoi as well as the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, D.C.,” embassy spokesman Beau Miller said.
http://world.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=26264&external=661456.proteus.fma
Consular affairs: Veni, Vidi, No Visa?
So, you’re all set to head off on an overseas holiday to exotic climes and arrive at the airport secure in the knowledge that your flight has been confirmed, your travellers cheques are nestling in your pocketand your passport in your hand with all the necessary visas. Suddenly, all that hassling with visas seems worthwhile. The hours spent filling out forms, standing in queues, printing out bank statements, hotel reservations and heavens knows what else. You’ve got your visa and nothing can stop you. Wrong. I have discovered that having a visa in your passport doesn’t mean a thing unless the airline on which you are travelling has got your visa details on their computer system. Maybe it’s just when one flies via the Middle East, but twice now family members have damn nearly not got to their destinations because the airlines didn’t have their visa details. Only a few weeks ago my son was flying from Johannesburg via Doha in Qatar to Vietnam for a hiking holiday. When he got to OR Tambo airport and tried to check in, the airline, Qatar, told him there was a problem with his visa. What problem? There it was in his passport all officially stamped by the Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa. It was only after a lot of arguing and ranting that he managed to catch his flight by the skin of his teeth. And when he arrived in Vietnam there was no problem. They just took his passport, looked at the visa, stamped it and said welcome to Vietnam. A while back my wife and mother in law flew from Johannesburg via Dubai en route to Australia for a family wedding. They got to Dubai and when the time came for them to board their connecting flight, the Emirates airline people told them their Australian visas weren’t valid because they were not on the airline’s computer system. After frantic phone calls to Canberra in Australia to verify the visas, they boarded their flight at the absolute last minute. Stressed to the gills and still smarting from being treated as though they were criminals. Now, maybe someone can enlighten me because I get a headache trying to understand airlines. Sure, I can appreciate they need to know if visas are valid so they didn’t get stuck having to return passengers to their country of origin if they are denied access to a country. But, what I want to know is this: Has anyone else had this problem or is it just my family that seems to fall foul of middle-east airlines? How does your visa information get onto the airline computer system in the first place? Who is supposed to do this? The embassy concerned? The travel agent? The passenger? How on earth does one check up to find out if your visa details are on the airline computer ? Then does this only happen when one is flying via Dubai or Doha or does it happen at other major airports?
http://m.news24.com/news24/Columnists/ChrisMoerdyk/Veni-Vidi-No-Visa-20101213
Newsline: Man held in Vietnam for US embassy bomb threat
Police have arrested a man accused of threatening to bomb the US embassy in Hanoi in August, police said. Police in the port city of Haiphong said local resident Nguyen Kien Dinh, 25, was arrested on charges he had repeatedly telephoned the embassy and threatened to bomb it. Dinh had no political goals and simply wanted to become famous, a police source who requested anonymity said, adding that Dinh had no bombs or bomb-making materials. The embassy reported the threats to police on August 18, according to the source.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20100916082034324C636551
