Belgium-Vietnam Association supports AO/dioxin victims
A get-together and exhibition on Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims in Vietnam has been held in Brussels, Belgium by the Belgium - Vietnam Association (ABV).
Tran To Nga (R), a Vietnamese French woman and an AO victim, speaks at the event (Photo: VNA)
Brussels (VNA) - A get-together and exhibition on Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims in Vietnam has been held in Brussels, Belgium, by the Belgium - Vietnam Association (ABV).
The October 15 event was attended by Tran To Nga, a Vietnamese French woman and an AO victim, who lodged a lawsuit against US firms that had manufactured the toxic AO defoliant used by the US military during the war in Vietnam.
A documentary featuring the life of Vietnamese in intoxicated areas was screened at the event.
At the event, Nga introduced her book written in French entitled Ma terre empoisonnée (My Poisoned Land).
The ABV has worked to help ease difficulties of AO/dioxin victims and continue to support Nga, said its President Pierre Grega.
The association has also presented scholarships to Vietnamese children who suffer from AO-related illnesses.
The VAVA and a number of Vietnamese Agent Orange/Dioxin victims filed a lawsuit to the US Federal District Court in Brooklyn, New York against 37 US chemical companies that had produced and supplied chemicals to the US military for its use in the war in Vietnam, demanding for justice. However, it was refused by the court.
Following the lawsuit, in 2015, Nga lodged a lawsuit against 26 US firms that had manufactured the toxic AO defoliant used by the US military during the war in Vietnam.
The Crown Court of Evry then rejected the lawsuit due to lack of authority to handle a case related to actions of the US Government during the war. However, Nga affirmed that she will continue to pursue the lawsuit./.
Sixty years have passed since the US army dropped tens of millions of extremely toxic chemicals on various areas across the south of Vietnam, but their devastating impact still lingers, destroying the environment and claiming the lives of many generations of Agent Orange (AO) victims.
Thai Binh province – one of the localities with a large number of Agent Orange/dioxin victims in northern Vietnam – held a ceremony on August 9 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the dioxin disaster in Vietnam and respond to the Day for AO/dioxin victims (August 10).
Great efforts have been made by the Vietnamese Government as well as organisations and individuals at home and abroad to support victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (AO) with a hope to ease the incomparable pain that they are suffering.
Vietnam is home to about 75,000 second-generation victims of Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin and 35,000 others of third generation. Some localities even have victims in the fourth generation.
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Tran To Nga (R), a Vietnamese French woman and an AO victim, speaks at the event (Photo: VNA) 
