Ukraine requested to clarify raids against Vietnamese in Odessa Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken urgent measures to protect the legitimate rights of the Vietnamese community in Odessa, Urkaine following the unwarranted raid and property confiscation of citizens in Lang Sen residential quarter, Grushevskogo street on May 23. Head of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department Ly Quoc Tuan said on May 26, the Vietnamese embassy has held several meetings with representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). It also requested the MFA to closely work with relevant agencies to clarify the incident and take drastic measures to protect the legitimate rights of Vietnamese community in Odessa. Meanwhile, the embassy also sent a delegation to work  with leaders of the Vietnamese Association in Odessa to count the confiscated properties and and help Vietnamese expatriates report the incident to local authorities.  The Vietnam embassy officials had working session with Odessa’s administration authorities and police chief to quickly verify the case and enact specific measures to protect the legitimate rights of the Vietnamese citizens. The Vietnamese expatriates were told to keep calm and strengthen solidarity to avoid legal violations in the resident country while closely working with relevant local agencies to handle the issue. According to Russian and Ukrainian television, some 200 overseas Vietnamese protested in front of the Odessa regional prosecutor’s office on May 24 against the Kiev tax staff and Ukrainian general prosecutor for raiding their houses on May 23 without necessary documents. Vietnamese expatriates, who live in the Vietnamese quarter called Lang Sen (Lotus Village) on Grushevskogo street, Odessa, confirmed that tax staff took from them at least US$500,000 and other valuables. VOV