With a mild smile, the feminine captain from the northern province of Bac Giang stated she discovered quite a lot 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 job is to be near prisoners and educate them, in order that they will acknowledge the errors they’ve made and atone,” Quyen stated.
She’s been working the job for the previous 16 years.
 |
|
Captain Doan Ngoc Do Quyen speaks on the experiences of international feminine inmates. Photograph by Dinh Van |
Quyen is very appreciated for her work in educating lots of of criminals. Nonetheless, in 2020, when assigned to handle 29 international girls aged 27-80 years outdated, from 12 completely different nationalities, the captain was fairly involved.
Many of the wards have been serving life sentences on drug-related costs.
“The largest barrier is language,” Quyen stated. To handle and educate prisoners, the jail teaches them Vietnamese to allow them to talk. She will communicate fundamental English, however not all her prisoners from overseas know this language, so making them perceive Vietnamese just isn’t a easy job. The work of understanding their psychology, customs, and dwelling habits takes quite a lot 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 troublesome to start with. She stated she was very confused when she obtained 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, due to this fact, needed to educate the prisoner 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 compelled to work with a fellow European prisoner. Quyen needed to be the mediator and arbiter of the battle. After ample time and endurance speaking with each prisoners, she was capable of perceive the issue, regardless of the language boundaries, and assist them clear up it.
“I am very completely happy that they’re keen to be taught. Now most can communicate and perceive fundamental Vietnamese, so it’s simpler to elucidate to them how Vietnam’s leniency coverage works. Due to that, they have been excited to atone, in hopes of returning residence quickly,” Quyen stated.
 |
|
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 completely different personalities and cultures, however the job of training and persuading prisoners is identical, he stated, so jail officers like him should clearly perceive the traits of every particular person 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 just accept his sentence, stopped consuming, and all the time triggered bother with others.
By way 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 pals to go to Vietnam to “take outdated garments and sneakers again to promote,” so he agreed to take part.
Nonetheless, someday later, Okonkwo realized he was really engaged in a cross-border drug trafficking community. Despite the fact that 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.
 |
|
Okonkwo in Thu Duc Jail. Photograph by VnExpress/ Quoc Thang |
To assist the prisoner, Lieutenant Colonel Trung commonly talks to him and teaches him Vietnamese. The officer listens to the prisoner’s ideas and analyzes his phrase. In the course of the interactions, he has realized that behind Okonkwo‘s “large 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 consuming for days.
“I confided in him, inspired him, and requested him to think about his mom and different kinfolk,” Lieutenant Colonel Trung stated. “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 maintain his aged mom,”
For the Lunar New 12 months holidays (Tet) from Feb. 8-14, Thu Duc Jail proposed lowering the jail sentences of 1,985 prisoners. In the course of the vacation, the jail offers every prisoner 5 instances extra meals than standard and organizes leisure, arts, and sports activities actions to create a joyful environment throughout Tet.