Vietnamese Community in Czech Republic Supports Compatriots in Ukraine

Vietnamese in the Czech Republic collect aid for Ukrainian refugees in Prague. Photo: Facebook

According to the United Nations, the crisis in Ukraine has forced more than 4.3 million people to leave the country.

This has led to activities across Europe to help refugees. In particular, the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic has had many meaningful activities. Euronews recently also had an article introducing this noble gesture.

Helping compatriots

One of the groups helping Ukrainian refugees is "Lam Cha Me" group. This is the Vietnamese community in the Czech capital Prague to help Vietnamese people better integrate into life in the foreign country.

“When the conflict broke out, we thought we had to do something,” said Nga Dao, a member of the group.

According to Nga Dao, the group contacted a number of organizations to ask what they could do to help Ukrainian refugees. They called on the Vietnamese community to donate a truckload of children's and women's clothing. However, at that time, the relief collection points announced to stop accepting items.

Therefore, the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic decided to open their own relief collection point. Nga Dao said they received a large amount of food, water, baby strollers, diapers and other items after asking for support. “Not only Vietnamese, Czech people also often bring items to our place to support refugees. I am grateful for this action,” Nga Dao said.

Ukrainian refugees. Photo: Reuters

The group also opens free Czech language classes for Vietnamese children from Ukraine. Nga Dao said that the class has already started and expressed hope that the children will soon catch up with their classmates.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said more than 300,000 people had come from Ukraine to the country. Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Thai Xuan Dung last week said that more than 5,000 Vietnamese citizens have also left Ukraine for neighboring countries, of which about 300 have come to the Czech Republic. Dung said about 7,000 Vietnamese were in Ukraine before the conflict broke out.

Ambassador Dung said that the Vietnamese mission had called on the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic to raise more than 20,000 euros (US$21,753). Half of this money was sent to the Vietnamese embassies in Poland and Romania to help buy essential items. The rest is donated to local organizations that are supporting Ukrainian refugees such as the Prague Fire Rescue Service.

Strong Vietnamese community

According to Lucie Pštrosová, spokesperson of the Czech-Vietnamese Institute of Education, the above activities show that the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic has integrated very well.

A 2019 study found that Ukrainians make up the largest proportion of the expatriate community in the Czech Republic, followed by Slovaks. The Vietnamese are the third largest expat community here, accounting for about 1% of the Czech population.

The surname Nguyen is currently the eighth most common surname in the Czech Republic. Pho has also become a favorite dish of the Czech people.

The relationship of the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic with the locality has also improved a lot during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the early months of the outbreak, Vietnamese groups and associations supported the fight against the pandemic, from donating to charities to sewing cloth masks.

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