A complaint has been filed against the Vietnam Embassy in Wellington. Photo / AP
A complaint has been filed against the Vietnam Embassy in Wellington. Photo / AP
Police are making inquiries into a complaint that staff at the Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington are demanding cash for helping Vietnamese nationals seeking assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"I can confirm we've received a report and we're making inquiries," a police spokeswoman said.
Hung Truong, who first contacted the Herald on behalf of the Embassy of Vietnam, said its staff had diplomatic immunity and police did not have the right to investigate the matter.
A Wellington-based Vietnamese community leader, Ha Nguyen, said she filed the police report after more than 30 people told her staff at the embassy had demanded bribes to renew passports and secure seats on flights back to Vietnam.
Vietnamese nationals have been seeking help at the Vietnam Embassy to get back home. Photo / 123RF
Khong Anh Thu, head of the embassy's consular section, said the embassy "operates in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations".
By law under the convention, foreign diplomats have diplomatic immunity from any criminal processes.
Khong said Vietnamese citizens who had any complaints about the services they got at the embassy could complain directly to the embassy in Wellington or government agencies in Vietnam "for explanation".
"In reality, the Vietnamese Embassy and the competent agencies in Vietnam have received complaints from Vietnamese individual citizens and have contacted and addressed the complaints in accordance with Vietnamese law," Khong said.
She said the embassy had also responded to Nguyen about her complaints and her request for Vietnamese passport renewal.
"The Vietnamese embassy provides Vietnam's consular services, including issuance or renewal of Vietnamese passports, for Vietnamese citizens in accordance with Vietnamese law," Khong said.
Nguyen said many in the community were being pressured into giving in to the demands for cash because they didn't have a choice.
"Some have no visa to stay in NZ and need to go back to Vietnam, while others know that without a passport they could become stateless," she said.
"So they just have to find the money to pay whatever is being asked."
Nguyen said people were afraid to speak up, and the only reason she could was because she also had New Zealand citizenship.
According to her, people seeking assistance at the embassy were being overcharged for services "much above the listed fees", were not issued receipts for the cash they paid and those who gave more in cash would get their passports renewed faster.
"We are very concerned that the embassy has immunity from New Zealand law and they have never listened to us," she said.
"As a community leader, I have been fighting against this shameful and seriously bad thing for years. We wrote to Vietnamese government detailing our concern.
"However, the issues then passed back to Vietnamese community in New Zealand."
In a statement, the embassy said it had replied to Nguyen directly regarding her request for her Vietnamese passport renewal.
"Ha Nguyen is a Vietnamese citizen and is applying for Vietnamese passport renewal," it said.
"Ha Nguyen came to New Zealand in 2011 to study PhD using Vietnamese government's fund. According to the Vietnamese rule, those who study overseas using Vietnamese government's fund, shall, upon completion of study, return to Vietnam to work for the government for a couple of years."
If a person did not do so, than the total amount had to be returned.
"Ha Nguyen has not completed the study and not returned to Vietnam," it said.
"The Vietnamese Ministry of Education has two times issued public letter asking Ha Nguyen to repay US$56,153 to the government.
"This is the total cost for her study in New Zealand. The Vietnamese government also requested the embassy to ask Ha Nguyen to repay the above-mentioned amount of money."
Nguyen, however, has denied this was the case and that it was a smear campaign against her to divert from the real issues.
"I can confirm that as a scholar, I've completed all the paperwork required by Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training as well as from my former employer," Nguyen said.
"I have not received any disciplinary decision, or any documents sent to me (as claimed) by Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington."
