A total of 344 Vietnamese citizens were brought home from Australia and New Zealand on June 1 and 2 thanks to concerted efforts by Vietnamese authorities and representative agencies in the two countries, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and relevant Australian and New Zealand agencies.

Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Ta Van Thong (fourth, from left) and Vietnamese citizens at the Auckland Airport (Photo: VNA)

They included children under the age of 18, the elderly, persons with illnesses, pregnant women, labourers with expired contracts, and others with expired visas or being stranded due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the Australian and New Zealand governments have limited travelling and closed their borders to curb the spread of the disease, the flight was arranged to land in Sydney and Auckland to pick up the citizens.

After arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, all the passengers and crew members on board received heath examination and were put in quarantine in line with regulations.

Under the Prime Minister’s directions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Transport, domestic agencies and Vietnam’s overseas representative agencies have arranged a number of flights to bring Vietnamese citizens home.

On the basis of the pandemic’s developments in the country and the world, citizens’ aspirations and local quarantine capacity, more flights are set to be conducted in the coming time to repatriate Vietnamese citizens.

Source: VNA