Vietnam embassy opposes arrest of citizen in Malaysia

The Vietnamese citizen, only referred to as T. and who is a Ho Chi Minh City public servant, was detained at the Malaysian airport on July 23 prior to her return flight to the Vietnamese city, on suspicion of using fake immigration stamp.

The arrest of T. is against the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, the Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Cao Phong said in a diplomatic note sent to the Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Vienna Convention 1963 is an international treaty that defines a framework for consular relations between independent countries.

Vietnam also opposed to the act of handcuffing T. as if she was a criminal, even though there is not enough ground to find her guilty, Minister Counselor To Thi Huong said, citing the diplomatic note.

The Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it acknowledged the complaints from the Vietnamese embassy and will work with the Malaysian immigration authorities on the issue.

Ambassador Phong said the incident may affect the image of Malaysia in the eyes of Vietnamese tourists.

T., who works for the Party Committee Office of District 12, was on an overseas trip to Singapore and Malaysia with 60 colleagues from July 18 to 23, organized by popular travel firm Saigontourist, according to Le Van Cuong, the head of the Party Committee Office.

On July 23 night, when the tourists were completing procedures to leave Kuala Lumpur for Ho Chi Minh City, immigration officers held T. in detention.

“They said she had a fake stamp on her passport when traveling from Singapore to Malaysia,” Cuong told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday.

The District 12 Party Committee Office was only informed her arrest on July 24 morning, when the other tourists already returned to the Vietnamese city.

The office immediately sent an email to notify the Vietnamese embassy in Malaysia about the incident, asking for protection of the citizen. Saigontourist was also called on to bring T. back as soon as possible.

“The tour organizer later told us that it was not until July 27 that the embassy acknowledged the incident and began working with local authorities,” Cuong said.

The embassy sent its staff to meet T. at the airport on July 27 afternoon, and the woman was finally able to return to Ho Chi Minh City the ensuing night.

“She could only cry when meeting family members and colleagues upon arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport,” Cuong recalled.

T. was only allowed to phone her family, and lost contact with the Party Committee Office, according to the official.

“She received food supplies during the detention but could not eat much as she is unfamiliar with the food,” Cuong said.

“The custody room does not meet basic living standards.”

The office has given T. some extra days off to calm down.

Late embassy's response

The detention took place on July 23, but the Vietnam Embassy only knew of it four days later.

When asked about the late response, Huong, the Minister Counselor, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) that the embassy was contacted by Saigontourist on July 24, and had told the tour organizer to provide more information via email.

“But we received no email from Saigontourist by the end of July 24,” Huong said.

The travel firm actually sent an email on July 25, which was Saturday.

“It was weekend, and Saigontourist did not tell us that they had sent the email, so we did not check the inbox,” Huong said.

On July 27, the embassy finally received the report from Saigontourist, and immediately sent officials to the Malaysian immigration agency as well as Kuala Lumpur airport to verify the information.

But the immigration agency refused to let the Vietnamese embassy staffers meet with T. on July 27, and only arranged a meeting a day later.

“The immigration office later confirmed that verification found the stamp on T. passport is authentic, thus freed her but has since released no apology or explanation,” Huong said.