With a mild smile, the feminine captain from the northern province of Bac Giang mentioned she discovered plenty of pleasure in her job as warden of Camp No. 1 at Thu Duc Jail within the central province of Binh Thuan.
It is among the largest prisons within the nation which homes greater than 800 international prisoners of 39 nationalities.
“The jail warden’s process is to be near prisoners and educate them, in order that they will acknowledge the errors they’ve made and atone,” Quyen mentioned.
She’s been working the job for the previous 16 years.
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Captain Doan Ngoc Do Quyen speaks on the experiences of international feminine inmates. Photograph by Dinh Van |
Quyen is extremely appreciated for her work in educating a whole lot of criminals. Nevertheless, in 2020, when assigned to handle 29 international ladies aged 27-80 years outdated, from 12 totally different nationalities, the captain was fairly involved.
A lot of the wards have been serving life sentences on drug-related fees.
“The most important barrier is language,” Quyen mentioned. To handle and educate prisoners, the jail teaches them Vietnamese to allow them to talk. She will converse fundamental English, however not all her prisoners from overseas know this language, so making them perceive Vietnamese shouldn’t be a easy process. The work of understanding their psychology, customs, and residing habits takes plenty of effort and time.
Quyen solely had a number of phrases to say about herself, however when it got here to prisoners, the captain was excited to speak.
She spoke of 1 case she discovered tough to start with. She mentioned she was very confused when she acquired a lady from an ethnic minority tribal group in Laos. Nobody within the camp spoke the prisoner’s language, so she primarily interacted with others utilizing physique language. The captain, subsequently, needed to educate the prisoner easy methods to talk correctly with out a lot as a single phrase in frequent to start with.
One other case was an Asian prisoner, who didn’t know any international language, and protested strongly towards being pressured to work with a fellow European prisoner. Quyen needed to be the mediator and arbiter of the battle. After ample time and persistence speaking with each prisoners, she was in a position to perceive the issue, regardless of the language obstacles, and assist them resolve it.
“I am very glad that they’re keen to study. Now most can converse and perceive fundamental Vietnamese, so it’s simpler to elucidate to them how Vietnam’s leniency coverage works. Because of that, they have been excited to atone, in hopes of returning dwelling quickly,” Quyen mentioned.
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Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Trung discusses the oversight of international inmates. Photograph by Quoc Thang |
In the identical camp, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Trung has 18 years of expertise educating male international prisoners. The prisoners have totally different personalities and cultures, however the process of teaching and persuading prisoners is identical, he mentioned, so jail officers like him should clearly perceive the traits of every individual to have the ability to work together and information them accordingly.
A few years in the past, Ifeanyi Ezekiel Okonkwo, a Nigerian, was despatched to serve a life sentence at Thu Duc Jail for illegally transporting medicine. When he first entered the camp, this prisoner, who was over 1.9 m tall, claimed he was harmless, refused to simply accept his sentence, stopped consuming, and at all times brought about hassle with others.
By means of analysis, Trung discovered that Okonkwo was born right into a poor household within the distant countryside and had labored many roles, however his life was nonetheless unstable. In 2019, he was invited by mates to go to Vietnam to “take outdated garments and sneakers again to promote,” so he agreed to take part.
Nevertheless, someday later, Okonkwo realized he was really engaged in a cross-border drug trafficking community. Although he knew his job was unlawful, he could not overcome the temptation of cash. In accordance with the decision, when his ring was busted, Okonkwo was transporting greater than 430 grams of cocaine.
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Okonkwo in Thu Duc Jail. Photograph by VnExpress/ Quoc Thang |
To assist the prisoner, Lieutenant Colonel Trung often talks to him and teaches him Vietnamese. The officer listens to the prisoner’s ideas and analyzes his phrase. Throughout the interactions, he has realized that behind Okonkwo‘s “massive and powerful” look, he’s really lived a really emotional life. In early 2022, when consulate workers knowledgeable Okonkwo of his father’s loss of life, he cried like a baby and stopped consuming and ingesting for days.
“I confided in him, inspired him, and requested him to consider his mom and different kinfolk,” Lieutenant Colonel Trung mentioned. “Since then, Okonkwo has revived his spirit and motivation, and he has tried to reform. He’s hoping to have his sentence diminished quickly so he can return to his homeland and handle his aged mom,”
For the Lunar New Yr holidays (Tet) from Feb. 8-14, Thu Duc Jail proposed lowering the jail sentences of 1,985 prisoners. Throughout the vacation, the jail provides every prisoner 5 occasions extra meals than common and organizes leisure, arts, and sports activities actions to create a joyful ambiance throughout Tet.