Mr. Vu Hong Nam presents Vietnamese language textbook
to overseas Vietnamese in Senegal (Photo: quehuongonline.vn)
Located in West Africa, nearly 24 hours flying time from Vietnam, Senegal is home to about 3,000 Vietnamese origin people, including the first migrants from the 1950s-60s.
Among the nearly 200 Vietnamese families there, most are Vietnamese spouses with Senegalese husbands; some have just arrived there after contact through tourism and then stay there to do business.
Most Vietnamese people work as civil servants, traders, or are hired to work in many different occupations. Their living conditions are relatively stable.
Notably, some Vietnamese individuals have held high positions in the local government, such as Mr. Jean Gomis, who had even been a general of the Senegalese military, Ms. Claudia Dialo had been the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador of Senegal in a foreign country.
In November 2016, the Association of Indochinese Vietnamese in Senegal, named Kim Hoi, was established, becoming a common home to connect more than 200 members of Vietnamese origin.
Mr. Vu Hong Nam conveyed kindly regards of senior leaders and people of Vietnam to all overseas Vietnamese in Senegal; appreciated their efforts to overcome many difficulties in life and work when living far from the homeland for more than half a century to develop stably and successfully in the local country, as well as keep their love of country, as well as the solidarity and cultural identity of Vietnam.
He added that Kim Hoi should promote its role as a reliable address for overseas Vietnamese in gathering, uniting and solving common problems of the community, and each member of Kim Hoi should become an image ambassador of Vietnam to introduce the culture, people and potential of Vietnam to the local people, contributing to being a bridge to promote friendly relations between the two countries.
The delegation answered questions about nationality issues, visa exemption and necessary documents for the second and third generations of the overseas Vietnamese community.
The Deputy Minister asked the Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria concurrently Senegal and the SCOV to study and quickly report on and propose solutions for overseas Vietnamese having aspirations of Vietnamese nationality.
He also said that Senegalese leaders appreciated and acknowledged the stable development and active contribution of the Vietnamese community to Senegal, pledged to continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live stably, develop and support the Association of Indochinese Vietnamese in Senegal to operate officially.
On behalf of the Vietnamese community in Senegal, Ms. Mary Nguyen Thiva Tran, Head of the Kim Hoi association, thanked the Vietnamese Embassy and other relevant agencies for their support, and affirmed the targets of the association of meeting the common interests of the community, sharing information and ideas for mutual cooperation, and developing Senegal and the relations between the two countries.
At the meeting, the Deputy Minister presented the association a set of Vietnamese textbooks and hoped the overseas Vietnamese in Senegal would soon open Vietnamese classes for their children and those who are far from the homeland for many years, to contribute to preserving the Vietnamese language and culture, tightening the relations between overseas Vietnamese and the homeland./.