Nearly 280 Vietnamese flown home from Russia, Belarus

Nearly 280 Vietnamese citizens in Russia and Belarus were repatriated on a flight that landed at Van Don International Airport, the northern province of Quang Ninh, on July 17.

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, and relevant agencies of the host countries.

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

Disease prevention measures had been 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.

From April 10 to July 16, Vietnam organised 55 flights bringing 13,323 citizens home from overseas in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang.