Vietnam repatriates 280 citizens from Russia, Belarus

They include children under 18, pregnant women, people with illnesses, workers with expired visas or labour contracts and students without accommodation due to COVID-19-induced school and dormitory closures.

The flight was arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, authorised agencies of Vietnam, the Vietnamese embassies in Russia and Belarus, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA), and the relevant agencies of the host countries.

As many countries have imposed travel restrictions due to the pandemic, the embassies actively worked with the host countries’ authorities to prepare the necessary procedures and instruct the citizens to move to the airports in Moscow and Minsk. They also sent staff to the airports to coordinate with the airlines and local authorities in order to assist the citizens in handling relevant procedures.

Disease prevention measures were carried out during the flight. Upon landing at Van Don airport, the passengers received health check-ups and were sent to quarantine centres in line with regulations.

In the time ahead, authorised agencies of Vietnam, the country’s overseas representative bodies and domestic airlines will conduct more repatriation flights on the basis of pandemic developments, overseas citizens’ aspirations and local quarantine capacity.

Overseas Vietnamese warned to be vigilant when registering to fly home

On July 16, the VNA warned that some people have been taking advantage of the complicated COVID-19 developments to pose as representatives of the airlines, inviting overseas Vietnamese to buy flight tickets home to avoid disease outbreaks in foreign countries.

VNA recommended that Vietnamese citizens be especially wary of requests to buy air tickets of unknown origin flying home, while avoiding the purchase of air tickets from unknown companies or offers of unknown origin, as well as being careful when transferring money to accounts held in personal names.

If they want to return to Vietnam, Vietnamese citizens need to register with the Vietnamese Embassies or equivalent representative agencies in the host country to synthesise and report to the competent authorities for decision.

Citizens eligible for the repatriation flights will receive a notification from a single source, the Vietnamese Embassy or equivalent Vietnamese representative agencies in the host countries.