The Vietnamese Party and State have affirmed the top priority given to protecting Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine. Repatriation flights are the most evident demonstration of the Party and State’s high sense of responsibility towards overseas Vietnamese people.

On February 24, in the face of tensions regarding Ukraine, the permanent members of the Secretariat issued a document on protecting Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine. After which, the Government established a special working group headed by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh to deal with issues related to the Ukraine situation.

The Prime Minister issued a telegram on ensuring highest security and safety for the lives, properties and legitimate interests of Vietnamese citizens and entities in Ukraine and related places. He also asked for the formulation of a plan to evacuate citizens and members of the Vietnamese representative agency when necessary as well as support evacuees with shelter, food and essential goods.

At the working session with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and functional authorities on March 6, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed that the Party and State are highly dedicated to protecting Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine. He highlighted the instructions that no Vietnamese people in the war zones should be injured or killed. Furthermore, no people should be left cold and hungry during the evacuation process.

“The humanitarian spirit and responsibility are very urgent matters now”, said the President while urging the effective implementation of the Politburo’s Decision 12-KL/TW, dated on August 12, 2021, on overseas Vietnamese affairs in the new situation. Therefore, the Foreign Ministry and the relevant ministries had given the top priority to citizen protection, especially when fighting was taking place.

The affection between fellow countrymen has never been clearly demonstrated like during this difficult period. Each evacuation flight brings with it the love of the Vietnamese motherland to the sons and daughters living away from home.

On March 5, during an urgent southward trip, the working delegation of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia worked with the Vietnamese Association in Voronezh to welcome ten Vietnamese citizens fleeing from Kharkiv, Ukraine. They were provided with shelter in a hotel near a Vietnamese market in Voronezh.

Early morning the next day, Vu Huy Lan, Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese Association in Voronezh, visited the special guests from across the border. He inquired after their health and asked them if they needed any help.

When fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine, the Vietnamese Association in Voronezh held a fundraiser to support evacuees from Ukraine to Russia. The association also posted the plan on supporting Vietnamese evacuees on the web. Soon after that, many families in Kharkov quickly made contact to ask for help.

Sitting in a room with two large beds, Ta Thi Kieu Anh was meticulously writing words of thanks on a piece of cardboard. She wrote that “The working delegation of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia was not afraid of the long distance and travelled over 1,000 kilometres to pick us up. We are very grateful to them and would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the Vietnamese Association in Voronezh for their generous help. Our biggest wish now is to return to Vietnam as soon as possible.”

News of the ten-person delegation from Kharkiv arriving safely in Russia and receiving a warm welcome in Voronezh spread quickly. On March 9, three more people from Ukraine continued to receive support from the Vietnamese Association in Voronezh in accordance with the spirit of “doing our best to help”,  affirmed the association leader.

In addition to arranging food and accommodation for citizens from Ukraine who decided to evacuate to Russia, the Vietnamese Association in Voronezh has also called on benefactors to provide support at the highest level for overseas Vietnamese. The offer was immediately received supported by the Vietnamese community in Russia. Clothes and food were quickly transported from Moscow to Voronezh, assisting both Vietnamese and foreigners in evacuating from Ukraine.

Peace of mind with the situation of Vietnamese citizens evacuating from Ukraine to the city of Voronezh, the Embassy's delegation urgently continued its journey to Rostov Province (Russia), welcoming 10 Vietnamese citizens evacuated from Donetsk to Russia through Matveev Kurgan Border Gate. Seeing representatives of the Embassy and the Vietnamese community in Rostov City on Don River waiting at the border gate, the group who had just undergone a stressful evacuation expressed their joy and excitement.

In recent days, Vietnamese people in Donetsk have hardly had a full night's sleep. We are very grateful to the Party and State of Vietnam for helping and creating conditions for citizens to evacuate from the war zone in Ukaraine. We are really happy.

According to Nguyen Thanh Binh, there are about 40 Vietnamese families in Donetsk. Although they really want to, because of their circumstances, they can't evacuate. Mostly because of family members who are men between the ages of 18 and 55, it is difficult for them to leave Donetsk.

There are still some Vietnamese in Kharkov, Kherson and Mariupol (Ukraine) who want to evacuate to Russia. The Vietnamese Embassy and Vietnamese community in Russia continued to closely monitor the situation, contacting to guide and support people to evacuate from the war zones in a timely manner.

On March 9, at a meeting with representatives of Vietnamese community in Russia, Counsellor Nguyen Tung Lam, Head of Community Affairs Department (Vietnam Embassy in Russia), emphasised that the delegation of Embassy on citizen protection proactively called on people to evacuate from Ukraine to Russia, through the border gates between Kharkov (Ukraine) and Belgorod (Russia), or between the regions of Donetsk and Rostov (Russia).

With the plans to welcome citizens from Ukraine to Russia in the coming time, representatives of Vietnamese communities in the cities of Krasnodar and Kazan (Russia) affirmed their readiness to assist Vietnamese people in evacuating from Ukraine.

According to Nguyen Tung Lam, in the work of welcoming Vietnamese citizens evacuating from Ukraine, the Embassy and the Vietnamese community in Russia can overcome the arising difficulties. Most importantly, Vietnamese people can overcome difficult roads from war zones to come to Russia. The Vietnamese Embassy in Russia continues to coordinate with the functional agencies of Russia and Ukraine to create maximum conditions for people to evacuate.

"Missile flies over the roof", "lost water for a week", "doesn't dare to sleep at night", etc., memories of hard days can take a long time to fade. But for many Vietnamese, escaping the war zone in Ukraine means the danger is behind. During the evacuation from the area where bombs and bullets exploded, they were fortunate to have the Vietnamese community in neighbouring countries to encourage and support them, so that despite the extreme hardships, they still had enough energy to overcome.

When the situation in Ukraine is complicated, the Vietnamese in Ukraine were forced to abandon all their homes and possessions after decades of working in foreign lands to evacuate to surrounding countries such as Poland, Romania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

In order to reach the border, the Vietnamese in Ukraine had to go through an extremely arduous and dangerous journey, jostling and shoving at the railway station, the journey of tens of hours standing on a crowded train to get away from the battlefield is followed by hitchhiking or walking to the border. Following the suffocating journey, they must continue to wait a long time in the freezing cold in order to cross the border gate.

Among those who move to Poland, some had to spend dangerous days in Donetsk, where fighting broke out since 2014. Some people first saw bombs and bullets exploding right next to them when Russia launches special military operation in Ukraine.

Arriving in Poland safely and having a place to eat and stay, even after several days, many people are still in a very heavy mood, bewildered because they had to leave all their possessions, becoming empty-handed after many years of hard work. Because they are too tired physically and mentally, most just look forward to the day they can board the rescue flight back to their homeland.

Huong, who evacuated to Poland from Ukraine’s Odessa City with her husband and two children, had to stand in line at the border crossing under the freezing snow for a whole day, from 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning, before entering the checkpoint.

While being brought home on a repatriation flight on March 9, Huong said that once they arrived in Poland, her family could then enjoy sound sleep and meals. She recalled that while in Odessa, she continuously had to head back down to the bunker as air raid sirens sounded. Arriving in Poland, she felt safe in the arms of fellow countrymen. “I’m lucky to have taken the first repatriation flight. However, I still felt insecure because I must return home with empty-handed after many hardworking years in Ukraine,” Huong said, adding that she hoped that the war will soon be over without much destruction so that she can get back to Ukraine to continue with her business.

Supporting activities taken by Overseas Vietnamese community in Poland

Vietnamese people evacuated from Ukraine have been received with open arms by Overseas Vietnamese community in Poland. Many people have temporarily set aside their daily work to participate in volunteer activities at the border gate, donate food, and transport their fellow countrymen to temporary accommodations. Many families are cleaning up their company headquarters, restaurants, factories and houses to provide free accommodation for the needy.

One of the facilities providing accommodation for Vietnamese people fleeing from Ukraine is Nhan Hoa Pagoda, a Buddhist temple built by the Overseas Vietnamese community in Poland in 2014. The pagoda has currently received the largest number of Vietnamese people fleeing from Ukraine to Poland. The pagoda’s management board has arranged the entire upper and lower floors for the evacuees.

President of the Vietnamese People’s Association in Poland, Tran Anh Tuan, hailed that Overseas Vietnamese community in Poland has always promoted solidarity and mutual support to each other amidst difficulties, and has a lot of experience in handling crises such as the outbreaks of COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years. “The Overseas Vietnamese Association in Poland has also developed a very good relationship with the local government in the host country, therefore we have been actively supported in organising relief activities for Vietnamese people coming from Ukraine,” he said. Since February 25, volunteer groups from the Overseas Vietnamese Association in Poland have been present at the border gate to help the evacuees.

The volunteer groups have provided prompt support for the needy. If the evacuees express their wish to go to another country, such as Germany, they will receive detailed instructions on how to travel there by bus or train. The groups have also made contact with the volunteer groups in Germany so that the evacuees will be warmly welcomed upon their arrival. This has helped to reduce pressure for relief activities in Poland as it has received larger number of Vietnamese people fled from Ukraine than other countries, Tuan said.

What makes the evacuees worried the most is their safety. When they are safe after arriving in Poland, the question becomes what to do next.

For those who wish stay in Poland, especially those having Ukrainian citizenship, they have contacted their friends and relatives in EU countries for help. The Vietnamese People’s Association in Poland will provide updates on the latest information through the Association's Que Viet Newspaper so that the Embassy and the Overseas Vietnamese community can provide timely support for the needy.

“After many days of joining activities to support Vietnamese people coming from Ukraine, we have done everything to arrange accommodations for the evacuees,” Tuan said, stressing that he and the entire Overseas Vietnamese community in Poland always keep in mind that compatriotism stands above all else, and that supporting and protecting those who have plunged into despair is a responsibility. “We all hope that those fleeing from Ukraine will soon reunite and stabilise their lives,” he stated.

Great efforts in citizen protection

Poland is the country receiving the largest number of Vietnamese people from the battle zone in Ukraine, with nearly 3,000 citizens as of March 9 (according to the statistics of Polish border guards), excluding those who crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border with Ukrainian citizenship. The reception facilities of the Vietnamese community in Poland have arranged accommodation for nearly 2,000 people.

Following the Party’s and State’s policy as well as the close direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnamese Embassy in Poland has actively implemented citizen protection measures while coordinating with Vietnamese community in the country to arrange accommodation for Vietnamese people as soon as they’re evacuated to Poland.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Poland and Lithuania Nguyen Hung said: “Vietnamese Embassy in Poland coordinated with Vietnamese community in the country to support the citizens evacuated from Ukraine and provide them with shelters, while following the regulations and policies of the EU and Poland related to Vietnamese people to inform them”.

Under the regulation, non-Ukrainian nationals who had long-term residency can consider applying for war refugee status in Poland or another EU country. Those who did not have long-term residence permits or Ukrainian visas are forced to make their way home within 15 days if they are not allowed to reside when applying for refugee status. On that basis, evacuees from Ukraine can select the right choice in line with their circumstances.

Due to inconsistency and frequent changes between the policies of Poland and the EU countries in this context, the Vietnamese Embassy in Poland is determined to monitor the situation closely.

The number of Vietnamese people who have registered to return home was very large, so Vietnamese Embassy in Poland has proposed to organise the second flight as soon as possible to avoid a prolonged evacuation that would affect their health and lead to other problems.

Production manager: TRUONG SON, BICH HANH
Content: KHAI HOAN, THANH THE, MINH HANG, NGUYEN HA, THANH DAT
Translation: NDO
Design: HOANG HA