Minister of Public Security To Lam said he “accepted responsibility” for the fact that new passports were not recognized by other countries in the past time during a question-and-answer session of National Assembly deputies on the morning of August 10.
National Assembly member Nguyen Huu Thong of Binh Thuan province asked Mr. To Lam about the fact that the new passport does not have information about the place of birth, causing difficulties for citizens in the past time, “whose responsibility does it belong to What will be the remedy in the future?”
In a video broadcast live by National Assembly Television from Dien Hong Hall, Mr. To Lam affirmed that the issuance of new passports is done in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration Law and other legal regulations, and also in accordance with international standards.
“Currently, many countries use this form, all have no place of birth. The passport we give is also accepted by most countries in the world.
Recently, only Germany, the Czech Republic, and Spain did not accept it, but recently Spain has also accepted it,” Lam affirmed.
The police general said that many countries have recently suffered from a similar situation to Vietnam, such as South Korea, which also does not indicate the place of birth on the passport.
“Some countries are based on that (no place of birth) to create difficulties because there are also very practical reasons, authorities also want to find out where the specific origin of people coming from the country.
Because of not being able to look it up, countries also pose problems. We think those are technical issues.” Mr. To Lam explained and said that his ministry has a solution to write more information about the place of birth on the “Unknown” page on the blue-violet passport for those who need it.
Lam said that if it is necessary to add the place of birth to the passport in the future, it will be reported to the relevant agency and the National Assembly to amend the Law on Immigration of Vietnamese citizens.
Mr. To Lam also affirmed that because the Ministry of Public Security presided over making a new passport, he also “accepted responsibility” but did not mention the handling of those responsible.
Ministers of Vietnam’s ministries have repeatedly said to “take responsibility” for weaknesses and mistakes in their agencies when questioned before the National Assembly, but then there is no form of discipline or resignation.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
