Journey to bring citizens from Myawaddy, Myanmar back home safely

Could you please give us general information about the work of protecting Vietnamese citizens in the Myawaddy area, Myanmar recently?

Myawaddy town in Karren state, located in the southeast of Myanmar, separated from Mea Sot city of Thailand by the 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, 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.

Mr. Luong Thanh Quang, Deputy Director of the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed about the process of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinating with relevant agencies at home and abroad to bring Vietnamese citizens residing illegally in Myanmar back to Vietnam.

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.

Please let us know the number of Vietnamese citizens who will be protected and brought back to Vietnam?

In the context of the number of citizens identified 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, 681 citizens were identified from 56 provinces and cities nationwide, including large, civilized, modern cities - where warnings about "easy work, high salary" scams were 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.

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 for bringing citizens back to the country?

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 is only one way to bring citizens back to the country, which is 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 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 to the 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 start developing detailed plans, with the principle of bringing citizens home early, ensuring safety and order, and maximizing support from partner countries.

Victims in Myawaddy on the Thai-Myanmar border after a multinational crackdown on complexes run by criminal gangs, in February 2025. (Source: Reuters)

Citizens from Vietnam come to Myanmar by many different routes, but most of them take trails, open paths, and even cross rivers, so they do not have legal documents. A significant number of them violate the law in the country and flee abroad, so the subjects are very diverse and complicated. Bringing them back home 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 soil is closely monitored by local police.

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. The total travel time was nearly 20 hours to get to Vietnam. During the entire journey, there will be security forces monitoring, not allowing citizens to escape, stay illegally in Thailand or cause trouble, disrupt the order and safety of the whole 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 for reasons of war, being victims of human trafficking (identified as victims by competent authorities), and in cases where citizens violate the law abroad and are deported, they will have to pay for the cost of returning home themselves.

Since the return of citizens from Myawaddy requires traveling more than 500km on land in 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 individuals and families of citizens to pay advance payments to the Fund. After receiving the advance payments, 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 the 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 the excess money or request additional payment if the actual cost is higher than the advance payment), ensuring publicity and transparency. We also advise citizens in Myanmar to be wary of fake information aimed at taking advantage of and profiting from the return of citizens to the country.

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

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

Under the strong and close direction of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son, the 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 serve better.

Implementing the plan, our Embassy in Myanmar and domestic security agencies sent officers to work closely with our Embassy in Thailand on the journey to bring our 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 in order. This is an important initial success for the next journeys in May, determined to bring all our citizens in Myawaddy back home as soon as possible.

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, exchange, coordinate, develop and perfect detailed plans, closely following the set principles... Bringing citizens back to their homeland safely is the duty and also the 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.

"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, determined to bring all our citizens in Myawaddy back to the country as soon as possible."

For the safety of Vietnamese citizens when traveling abroad, the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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 make people become victims of forced labor, fraud or even human trafficking. If citizens require any information related to regulations, procedures or costs related to bringing citizens back to the country... they can directly contact the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs or local foreign affairs agencies 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.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/hanh-trinh-dua-cong-dan-tu-myawaddy-myanmar-ve-den-que-huong-an-toan-314663.html