At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the afternoon of February 27, Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang answered some questions about citizen protection.
Regarding the Thai media report on February 26 that the Vietnamese fishing boat collided with a Thai naval ship off the coast of Trat province and Thai authorities arrested the fishing boat and 4 Vietnamese crew members, Ms. Pham Thu Hang said that so far, Vietnam has not received official information from Thailand about this.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand to work with local authorities to verify and clarify relevant information to take necessary citizen protection measures in case any Vietnamese fishermen are arrested" - Ms. Hang said.
Regarding the information that 43 Vietnamese illegal immigrants were arrested by Thai authorities, Ms. Pham Thu Hang said that Vietnam is verifying this information.
Regarding whether there are any Vietnamese citizens among the about 7,000 foreign citizens rescued from fraud gangs in Myanmar, Ms. Pham Thu Hang said: "According to the information we have received, Myanmar authorities are detaining many foreign citizens, including Vietnamese citizens, after scanning online fraud establishments in the border area between Thailand and Myanmar. We are looking into the specific figures."
Ms. Pham Thu Hang added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security on this incident, and at the same time directing Vietnamese representative agencies in Thailand and Myanmar to urgently work with local authorities to verify information about the personal status of Vietnamese citizens and promptly take measures to protect citizens and support citizens when necessary.
Regarding cooperation with neighboring countries in dismantling fraud establishments along the border with Vietnam, Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang shared that Vietnamese authorities have closely cooperated with authorities in other countries to investigate, clarify and strictly handle violations of the law by Vietnamese citizens abroad in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law and local law.
"We believe that violations of the law must be handled in accordance with the provisions of the law. Vietnamese authorities have been closely monitoring the situation, ready with necessary and timely citizen protection measures for Vietnamese citizens who are victims of the incidents" - Ms. Pham Thu Hang said.
