Around 200 overseas Vietnamese and local people gathered in a meeting held by the Collectif Vietnam Dioxin organisation at the Champ de Mars square in the centre of Paris on Nov 6 to voice their support for Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims.

Among those attending the meeting were representatives from the France – Vietnam Friendship Association (AAFV), the French Republic’s Association of War Veterans and Victims (ARAC), the Overseas Vietnamese Union in France (UGVF), the Vietnamese Youth Union in France (UJVF), the organisation for Vietnamese Agent Orange/Dioxin Children, the Committee for Van Canh Friendship Village, the Peace Movement and the Law and Solidarity Union.

ARAC President Raphael Vahe affirmed ARAC’s support for Vietnamese AO victims, especially the lawsuit against US chemical companies. He also called upon all ARAC members and sympathisers to continue the struggle for the success of peace.

Marie Helene Lavallard, on behalf of the AAFV, emphasised that the most important task now is to make the whole world understand better and more correctly the American chemical war in Vietnam and the severe and long – lasting consequences of Agent Orange/dioxin on the Vietnamese people.

Monique Picard Weyl, a representative of the Law and Solidarity Union, stressed that the US should compensate Vietnamese AO victims and detoxify poisoned areas. She said the world must conduct stronger campaigns to bring justice to the victims.

Talking with a Vietnam New Agency correspondent, Deputy Mayor of Pradines city in Lot province, Guy Lavergne condemned all wars, especially the American war in Vietnam. He said the serious consequences of Agent Orange/Dioxin continue to affect Vietnam and its people, even 30 years after the war.

Chairwoman of the Vietnamese Youth Union in France, Nguyen Phuong Ha said that the union has conducted many activities to help the AO victims and hoped for the lawsuit’s victory.

On this occasion, many photos of AO/Dioxin victims was on show at the site, including those taken by Alexis Duclos, a former photo journalist of Gamma press, Philip Jones Griffiths, a famous journalist during the Vietnamese war, and Renault Khanh, a freelance photographer.