Vietnam calls for the US to take responsibility for addressing the after-effects of the war it waged in Vietnam, including assisting the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung delivered the call to Paul Cox, member of the Vietnamese Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign (VAORRC) Board, and a delegation of US war veterans during their meeting in Hanoi on April 6.

While reiterating the country’s wish to promote friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with the US , PM Dung stated that the American war left Vietnam and its people with severe consequences that are still felt even today.

More than two million Vietnamese were killed in the war, tens of millions of others were wounded and more than 300,000 people are still recorded as missing, he recounted.

As many as two million Vietnamese people have been exposed to Agent Orange and other toxic chemicals sprayed on Vietnam by US troops.

Even today, cases of injury and death from unexploded landmines left over from the war are reported every week, the PM told his guests.

He called the US court’s rejection of petitions against US chemical companies lodged by the Vietnamese AO victims an injustice, upsetting the Vietnamese people.

PM Dung was hopeful that the delegation of US war veterans and the VAORRC would continue supporting the lawsuit of the Vietnamese AO victims.

He also said he hoped they would continue to help the US Government and the American people fully understand the heavy consequences of the war in Vietnam in the interests of coordinating on assistance in treating AO victims and helping them cope with the difficulties they face.

Paul Cox told his host that during the working trip, all members of the delegation were touched by the agony caused by the terrible effects of AO that Vietnamese victims and their families are suffering.

Following this visit, the US delegation will prepare a bill aiming to support Vietnamese AO victims, Cox said, pledging that he will continue to do his utmost to pursue the cause of gaining justice for these victims./.