The Vietnamese government on March 13 decided to offer 200,000 USD in aid to the Japanese people to surmount the consequences of the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
On the same day, the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan convened an urgent meeting in Tokyo to discuss the situation of Vietnamese people in Japan after the catastrophe as well as measures to ensure their safety.
Speaking at the meeting, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Phu Binh affirmed there was no report on casualties of Vietnamese nationals by that time.
The embassy would continue collecting information on Vietnamese people in areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami.
The ambassador said he would send letters of condolences to the authorities and people in Japan ’s hardest-hit localities and at the same time asked local authorities to help Vietnamese citizens in their areas overcome the consequences of the disaster.
The Vietnamese Youth and Students’ Association (VYSA) in Japan plans to send a voluntary liaison team to Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture to study the situation of Vietnamese students in the northeastern province and surrounding areas, which were hard hit by the disaster.
According to VYSA, a hotline operated by the Dong Du Students Association, by March 13 morning, all Vietnamese students in northern prefectures and cities such as Nagano, Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Tochigi, Biigata, Akita, Iwate, Fukushima and Ibaraki were reported safe.
In the hardest hit Miyagi prefecture, 12 Vietnamese students were found safe as were six trainees who are working at the YB-Techno Steel Company in Ibaraki .
Families of Vietnamese residents in Japan can contact the Vietnamese Embassy for information via email www.vnembassyjp@gmail.com or access VYSA’s website at www.vysajp.org ./.
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