HCMC – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urged the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia to work with its Malaysian counterparts to verify and probe into a case involving a Vietnamese fisherman who reportedly died from gunshot wounds following a clash with Malaysian coast guards, stated the ministry’s spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang.
She was responding to reporters’ inquiries on August 17 over reports from foreign media outlets about a confrontation between the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and two Vietnamese fishing boats that occurred on August 16 in the waters off the Malaysian state of Kelantan, leaving one Vietnamese fisherman dead.
The Malaysian side has temporarily detained the two boats as well as the remaining fishermen onboard for allegedly fishing illegally in Malaysian waters.
The ministry expressed its deep concern over the serious incident to the Malaysian Embassy in Hanoi and requested the Malaysian side to verify and investigate the case and strictly tackle any official personnel who caused the death of the Vietnamese fisherman, noted the spokeswoman.
The ministry also ordered the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia to continue working with the Malaysian side and ask for more specific information about the case, to arrange consular visits to the arrested fishermen and grant citizen protection measures to the deceased.
Moreover, the ministry told domestic State agencies to verify the personal information of the fishermen involved and collect more information linked to the case to obtain a sufficient legal foundation to deal with the offences, undertake citizen protection measures and protect the lawful rights and interests of the Vietnamese fishermen, she added.
