Citizens rescued from Myanmar may have to pay for their own return home

Deputy Director of the Consular Department Luong Thanh Quang. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On May 17, Deputy Director of the Consular Department ( Ministry of Foreign Affairs ) Luong Thanh Quang shared some information related to this issue.

- Can you give us general information about the work of protecting Vietnamese citizens in the Myawaddy region (Myanmar) recently?

- Myawaddy town in Karren state, separated from Mea Sot city of Thailand by Moei river, is an important trading point between Myanmar and Thailand 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.

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.

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

- Could you please tell us the number of Vietnamese citizens who will be protected and brought back to Vietnam?

- 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 cities - where warnings about "easy work, high salary" scams were regularly propagated and disseminated in the press.

In an official exchange with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Myanmar side affirmed that these were citizens who violated the law (illegally immigrated, overstayed their stay or even participated in criminal activities, some of whom 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.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has discussed with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defense, localities and agencies that there is no basis to determine that the Vietnamese citizens deported by Myanmar are victims of human trafficking. In case citizens are tricked into working in Myanmar, after returning to Vietnam, they can contact the local police to report and after the investigation, if they are identified as victims of human trafficking, they will receive appropriate financial support mechanisms.

- Can you tell us more about the process of developing plans and procedures to bring citizens back to the country?

- With the actual situation in Myanmar and after consulting the experience of related countries, consulting with domestic professional units, the Consular Department and the Vietnamese Embassies in Myanmar and Thailand determined that there is only one way to bring citizens back to the country, which is to travel across the border, transit through Thai territory to return home. This requires establishing a three-party coordination mechanism between Myanmar (the country of deportation), Thailand (the country of transit) and Vietnam (the country receiving citizens), agreeing on the time, form, and specific plan to be able to bring citizens back home.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly reported to the Government 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. The Thai side 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.

The Consular Department, relevant domestic agencies, and Vietnamese embassies in Myanmar and Thailand have 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, take a bus from Mea Sot town to the capital Bangkok, travel nearly 500km to the airport in Bangkok and board a plane back home, a total travel time of nearly 20 hours to get to Vietnam.

During the entire trip, there will be security forces monitoring to ensure that citizens do not escape, stay illegally in Thailand, or cause trouble or disorder, and ensure the safety of the entire group.

- Regarding the cost of bringing citizens back to the country, could you please explain the current regulations and how they are actually implemented?

- In accordance with regulations on the use of the Fund for Protection of Vietnamese Citizens and Legal Entities Abroad, Vietnamese citizens are only paid by the State budget for the cost 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 cost of returning home themselves.

Because bringing citizens from Myawaddy back to the country requires traveling more than 500km by road 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 12.2 million VND.

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, 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 actual expenses are higher than the advance payment amount), ensuring publicity and transparency.

We also advise citizens in Myanmar to be wary of fake information intended to take advantage of and profit from repatriating citizens.

This is a public, transparent process with the participation and supervision of localities where citizens reside in the country.

- Could you tell us about the results of citizen protection work in Myawaddy so far?

- On April 8, April 28 and May 14, three groups of citizens with a total of 471 people returned to Vietnam safely and in order. This is an important initial success for the next journeys in May 2025, determined to bring all Vietnamese citizens in Myawaddy back to the country as soon as possible.

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.

Thank you very much!

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/cong-dan-duoc-giai-cuu-tu-myanmar-co-the-phai-tu-tra-chi-phi-ve-nuoc-702589.html