VietNamNet Bridge – Those who have disturbed, cheated and
scammed foreign tourists should be strictly punished and even face criminal
proceedings to effectively and comprehensively control the situation and
maintain social order in the capital of Ha Noi, police have said.
Colonel Nguyen Phu Thang, deputy
head of Hoan Kiem District Police Office, told An ninh Thu do (Capital
Security) newspaper that street vendors, shoeshiners and beggars mostly
gathered around Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter to persistently follow
tourists, offering services and products and overcharging for them.
"As well as charging
exorbitant prices, some regularly use tricks such as pretending to be social
workers representing charity organisations in order to make money. Others even
rob unsuspected tourists," he said.
Figures provided by the districts
police show that since the beginning of this year municipal police reported 130
cases of foreign tourists facing harassment and overcharging. As many as 41
vendors and shoeshiners were arrested in a campaign held between August 16 and
28. Most of them were immigrants.
However, these people were only
kept in custody for 12 hours and fined VND150,000 (US$7.5) each for causing
public disorder and not carrying ID cards with them. The punishments were not
severe as the arrestees did not directly rob foreign tourists of their
possessions.
Lieutenant colonel Pham Van Ung,
deputy head of Ly Thai To Ward's Police Office in Hoan Kiem District, said that
prosecutions were rare as few foreign tourists reported cases to the police,
even if they have had items stolen. He added that police found it hard to track
down and check on offenders at their places of residence, as most were
immigrants and changed location constantly. He also called for a review of the
punishments faced by wrongdoers, arguing that the current level of fines were
not strict enough to prevent violators from re-offending.
Police have said that those who
relapsed into criminal behaviour of this kind should be sent to social centres
for between three and six months. For those under the age of 18, local
authorities and families should keep a close watch to ensure that they do not
violate again.
Recently, eight people were
arrested for robbing foreigners in tourism areas over the course of a week. Six
of these were prosecuted and two were sent to rehabilitation centres.
About 50 workers from the Hoan
Kiem Lake Management Board and a group of police have been charged with
patrolling and inspecting crime hotspots in a crackdown on criminals cheating
tourists to try and alleviate the problem.
John Smith, an Australian who has
lived in Viet Nam for four years, said that common sense and knowing how to
bargain for things was the most necessary skill to avoid being ripped off.
"Many people complain about
being overcharged, but it's usually fine if you try to bargain when buying
something," he said.
"Sometimes sellers have
asked for VND100,000 ($5) for some fried cakes, and I have just left. If in
doubt, the best way is to go to the supermarkets where there are price tags on
all products," he added.
Nguyen Van Tuan, director of the
Administration of Tourism, said that creating jobs for immigrant labourers such
as vendors and beggars would better help solve the problems, as they were those
who most commonly disturb tourists.
He added that local residents and
managers of tourist sites should be more observant and report cases of these
crimes to authorised agencies in a timely fashion.
VietNamNet/VNS
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