Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs about the safe repatriation of 471 Vietnamese citizens from Myanmar

681 citizens need to be received, most of them entered the country illegally

On this occasion, Mr. Luong Thanh Quang, Deputy Director of the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had an interview with the press, clarifying many contents related to citizen protection work in Myanmar.

Regarding general information about the work of protecting Vietnamese citizens in the Myawaddy area of ​​Myanmar in recent times, Mr. Quang said that Myawaddy town in Karren state, located in southeastern Myanmar, separated from Mea Sot city of Thailand by the Moei River, is an important trading point of the two countries and is also a city famous for gambling, betting and many illegal activities.

In March 2025, Myanmar authorities coordinated with Thai police and related countries to conduct many raids on online gambling establishments located along the border between Myanmar and Thailand (the area on Myanmar land is Myawaddy town), discovering tens of thousands of illegal foreigners from many countries working at these locations, carrying out illegal activities such as online fraud, forced labor, human trafficking, etc.

Mr. Luong Thanh Quang, Deputy Director of the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (Photo: World and Vietnam Newspaper)

“After a quick screening, the Myanmar side determined that many Vietnamese citizens taken from gambling establishments were illegal immigrants and workers and had to leave the country. The information was reported to the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam to develop a plan to receive and bring them back to the country,” said Mr. Quang.

According to the Deputy Director of the Consular Department, due to the complicated security situation in Myanmar, moving from the ancient capital Yangon (where the Vietnamese Embassy in Myanmar is located) to Myawaddy town is not feasible, posing many challenges to the campaign to bring citizens home.

In the context of the number of identified citizens increasing rapidly every day, from 200 to 400 and then to over 600 people, the work of verifying the identity of each citizen was urgently deployed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security, preliminarily identifying 681 citizens from 56 provinces and cities nationwide, including large, civilized, modern cities - where warnings about "easy work, high salary" scams are regularly propagated and disseminated in the media.

In an official exchange with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Myanmar side affirmed that these were citizens who violated the law (illegal immigration, overstaying or even participating in criminal activities, there were cases where they had been repatriated in previous batches, but now returned to work at gambling establishments), were expelled from Myanmar and requested that the Vietnamese side accept them back to their country.

Mr. Quang informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has discussed with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense, localities and agencies, all of which said there is no basis to determine that the Vietnamese citizens deported by Myanmar are victims of human trafficking.

“In case a citizen is tricked into working in Myanmar, after returning home, he/she can contact the local police to report it and after the investigation, if he/she is determined to be a victim of human trafficking, the citizen will receive appropriate financial support mechanisms,” Mr. Quang affirmed.

Cross-border protection journey

Providing more information about the process of developing plans and procedures to bring citizens home, Deputy Director Luong Thanh Quang said that, with the actual situation in Myanmar and after consulting with relevant countries and domestic professional units, the Consular Department and the Vietnamese Embassies in Myanmar and Thailand determined that there was only one way to bring citizens home, which was to travel across the border and transit through Thailand to return home.

This requires the establishment of a three-party coordination mechanism between Myanmar (the deporting country), Thailand (the transit country) and Vietnam (the receiving country), agreeing on the time, form and specific plan to bring citizens back to their country.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly reported to the Government leaders on the situation and planned measures to be implemented to request approval and begin developing detailed plans, with the principle of bringing citizens home early, ensuring safety and order, and maximizing support from partner countries.

“Citizens from Vietnam come to Myanmar by many different routes, but most of them take trails, open paths, even cross rivers, so they do not have legal documents. A large number of them violate the law in the country and flee abroad, so the subjects are very diverse and complicated. Bringing them back to the country not only requires time but also requires safety, order, and strict control. Thailand is also very concerned and only allows a certain number of people to pass through their territory each day. The journey on Thai land is closely monitored by local police,” Mr. Quang informed.

The Consular Department, relevant domestic agencies, and Vietnamese embassies in Myanmar and Thailand quickly outlined and considered each implementation direction, from issuing documents, receiving citizens, bringing them across the border, moving citizens on Thai soil, supporting citizens to board flights back home, to receiving them domestically, and bringing them back to local management...

The final option chosen was to bring citizens from Myanmar to enter Thailand, by bus from Mea Sot town to the capital Bangkok, traveling nearly 500km to the airport in Bangkok and boarding a plane back home, with a total travel time of nearly 20 hours to Vietnam. During the entire journey, security forces will monitor to prevent citizens from escaping, staying illegally in Thailand or causing disorder and insecurity for the entire group.

Advise people to be cautious when working abroad

Under the strong and close direction of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Consular Department have completed the coordination process to bring citizens from Myawaddy (Myanmar) back to the country, in which the highest priority is the health and safety of citizens; closely coordinate with host countries; use economically, effectively, publicly and transparently the costs paid by citizens to bring them back to the country; promptly listen to citizens' feedback and suggestions to better serve.

Implementing the proposed plan, our Embassy in Myanmar and domestic security agencies sent officers to work closely with the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand on the journey to bring citizens home. As a result, on April 8, April 28 and May 14, 3 groups of citizens with a total of 471 people returned to Vietnam safely and orderly.

“This is an important initial success for the next journeys in May 2025, determined to bring all our citizens in Myawaddy back home as soon as possible,” Mr. Quang affirmed.

To begin the more than 20-hour journey to bring Vietnamese citizens from Myawaddy to Hanoi, authorities from the central to local levels, at home and abroad, had to continuously mobilize, discuss, coordinate, build and perfect a detailed plan, closely following the set principles...

Bringing citizens back to their homeland safely is the duty, honor and pride of the citizen protection staff, security officers and local civil servants, under the correct and close direction of the Party and State leaders, the representative of the Consular Department affirmed.

Mr. Quang also said that for the safety of Vietnamese citizens when traveling abroad, the Consular Department recommends that people be vigilant against invitations and enticements to work abroad with unclear job content, no labor contract, not through a legally operating labor dispatch company, no insurance..., which can cause people to become victims of forced labor, fraud or even human trafficking crimes.

If citizens require any information related to regulations, procedures or costs related to repatriating citizens... they can directly contact the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the local foreign affairs agency to discuss and clarify information.

In case of need of assistance, citizens can immediately contact the Citizen Protection Hotline +84 91 84 84 84 or the nearest Vietnamese representative agency.

Citizens who violate the law abroad and are deported must pay for their own return home expenses.

Explaining the current regulations on the costs of bringing citizens back to the country and how to implement them in practice, Mr. Luong Thanh Quang said that, in accordance with the regulations on the use of the Fund for the Protection of Vietnamese Citizens and Legal Entities Abroad, Vietnamese citizens are only paid by the State budget for the costs of returning home due to war or being victims of human trafficking (identified as victims by competent authorities). In cases where citizens violate the law abroad and are deported, they will have to pay for the costs of returning home themselves.

Since the return of citizens from Myawaddy requires traveling more than 500km on land across Thailand to reach Bangkok airport, the representative agencies have initially calculated the cost of returning to the country, including the cost of renting a road vehicle, food and drink on the way, commercial airfare and fees for issuing appropriate travel documents. The total estimated cost for each citizen is VND 12.2 million.

To organize the repatriation of citizens, the Fund for the Protection of Vietnamese Citizens and Legal Entities Abroad has notified the localities where citizens live in the country to request relatives and families of citizens to pay an advance payment to the fund. After receiving the advance payment, the fund will make a list and notify the representative agencies to pay for the rental of vehicles, purchase air tickets to bring citizens back to the country, and issue necessary travel documents, etc.

After citizens return home, the representative agencies will send documents and invoices to the Fund for Protection of Vietnamese Citizens and Legal Entities Abroad to make settlement and notify each individual (return excess money or request additional payment if the actual cost is higher than the advance payment amount), ensuring publicity and transparency.

“We also advise citizens in Myanmar to be wary of fake information that aims to take advantage of and profit from the repatriation of citizens. This is a public, transparent process with the participation and supervision of the localities where citizens reside in the country,” Mr. Quang affirmed.

Nhandan.vn

Source: https://nhandan.vn/bo-ngoai-giao-thong-tin-ve-viec-dua-471-cong-dan-viet-nam-tu-myanmar-ve-nuoc-an-toan-post880494.html