Fund set up to help Vietnamese citizens overseas

The state budget will assign VND20 billion (US$1.02 million) for a fund to protect Vietnamese citizens overseas, according to a circular issued recently by the Ministry of Finance.

The fund, which will be supplemented every year, will be spent on activities carried out by diplomatic and consular agencies to protect Vietnamese citizens and legal entities overseas. 

Officials who learn about cases where the citizens are arrested, tried and sentenced in foreign countries will receive financial support from the fund as well. 

It will also aid Vietnamese citizens who are in severe financial troubles and have accidents overseas, as also women and children who are victims of human trafficking.

According to the ministry, the fund’s director will have the right to approve the spending of up to US$10,000 for each case.

To spend more than the amount, the director must report to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for approval. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is allowed to spend a maximum of 10 percent of the fund for its management activities.

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China claims release of fishermen who remain at large

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Chinese Fishing Patrol Force released nine Vietnamese fishermen on Monday (October 11), a month after they were seized in Vietnamese waters.

“We were informed that fishing boat QNg 66478TS and nine fishermen were released on the afternoon of October 11,” Nguyen Phuong Nga, the Ministry spokeswoman, said in a statement issued Tuesday. “The boat and its crew are expected to be home tonight [October 12].”

On September 11, Captain Mai Phung Luu of Quang Ngai Province’s Ly Son District and eight crew members were detained by a Chinese patrol while fishing in Vietnamese waters off the coast of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded that China release the fishermen and their boat unconditionally. The demands were made through diplomatic channels at different levels in Hanoi and Beijing, the ministry said in a statement.

Colonel Bui Phu Phu, deputy head of the Quang Ngai Province’s Border Security Force, said that China had demanded a ransom of 70,000 yuan (US$10,461) for the release.

Authorities in the province’s Ly Son District said the detained fishermen had not yet returned home by late Wednesday.

Duong Thanh Vinh, a Ly Son fisherman who was detained by the Chinese in June 2009, said that they confiscated all of his fishing and communications equipment. During his release, he was left with just enough fuel to travel home.

“They only left me a compass,” he told the Tuoi Tre newspaper. “A fisherman could easily get lost if he is not an experienced seaman.”

Vinh added that he still owes VND250 million ($412,823) due to losses incurred as a result of his detention.

Lieutenant General Tran Quang Khue, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Vietnamese People’s Army, told the paper that he has instructed the Vietnamese Coast Guard to attempt to establish communication with the returning boat.

TheNationalSteering Committee for Search and Rescue said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not provided them any additional information on the current communication capacities or general condition of Capt. Luu’s boat.

Khue said it would be very dangerous to send fishing boat out into open water without any communications equipment.

As of press time, the fishermen’s families were still awaiting their return in Quang Ngai.

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Students compete in quiz to test ASEAN knowledge

HA NOI — Sixty-four high school teams took part in a contest to test their knowledge of ASEAN organised in Ha Noi yesterday.

The event was one of several activities to promote students' knowledge about ASEAN jointly held by the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ha Noi Department of Education and Training and other relevant agencies.

The contest was expected to provide young students with useful information about ASEAN member countries and an opportunity to make new friends, said Education and Training Deputy Minister Tran Quang Quy.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dao Viet Trung said that with proper knowledge about ASEAN, students as the country's future could offer policy makers recommendations for the further development and increased solidarity of the ASEAN community.

Each team was made up of five students who competed in a contest by answering a 10-question package. Sixteen teams took first prize in their respective heats.

Do Thi Uyen, a 12th grader at Tran Hung Dao High School, said her group had started researching for the contest from July.

Relevant ministries have provided 80 high schools in the city with basic knowledge about the institution to facilitate the studies of students . — VNS

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