http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/66422/1/.html
Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 15 January 2004 1532 hrs
Customs boss urges overseas Vietnamese to ignore bribe demands
HO CHI MINH CITY : The customs chief at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat
international airport has urged overseas Vietnamese returning to Vietnam
not to give in to demands for bribes from his staff.
In response to a flurry of complaints, department head Nguyen Truong
Nhan has instructed passengers to call four special hotline numbers or
inform the customs manager on duty if asked to hand over cash
"I ask all Viet Kieu not to pay in any case when going through customs
procedures. You can directly talk with our duty officials if you have
any problems," he told Wednesday's state-run Thanh Nien newspaper.
Many overseas Vietnamese returning to their native land say they have
give around 10 dollars to customs inspectors to ease their way past the
formalities. Failure to do so results in delays and further
complications.
Nhan, however, said he had personally not received any complaints but
stressed that "our policy is to strictly deal with the problem of
extortion".
The airport's customs chief said video cameras would be set up later
this year to keep any eye on proceedings.
Around 2.7 million Vietnamese live overseas. Many left for the West
following the end of French colonial rule in 1954 and at the end of the
Vietnam War in 1975.
Hanoi has tried to tap the professional skills and wealth of the exile
community for more than a decade and many have returned to set up
businesses.
- AFP
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