Another 300 Vietnamese return home from Ukraine

The second repatriation flight, organized and funded by the Vietnamese government, brought 300 Vietnamese people living in Ukraine to Hanoi on Thursday morning.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were 300 passengers on the Bamboo Airways evacuation flight from Poland, including 48 elderly people, 18 children under two, two pregnant women, and many people with health problems.

This is the second flight for the repatriation of Vietnamese people living and working in Ukraine. The first flight, operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on Wednesday, repatriated 287 Vietnamese citizens who had evacuated to Romania due to the conflict in Ukraine.

In collaboration with the Association of Vietnamese in Poland, the Vietnamese Embassy in Poland worked with Polish authorities to help people with necessary procedures and create favorable conditions at the airport.

Earlier on Monday, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son had a meeting with Maciej Duszynski, Chargé d'affaires of the Polish Embassy in Hanoi. The Vietnamese representative asked the Polish authorities to support and provide temporary shelter for Vietnamese citizens who evacuate to Poland from Ukraine, facilitate the arrangement of flights, and consider allowing Vietnamese who permanently settle in Ukraine to remain in Poland until conditions enable them to return to Ukraine.

Duszynski affirmed that the Polish government has been facilitating citizens of many countries, including Vietnam, to come to Poland from Ukraine and has been providing maximum support to the Vietnamese side in organizing evacuation flights.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since February 24, nearly 4,000 Vietnamese have been evacuated from the conflict zone in Ukraine. Of these, more than 2,400 are in Poland, more than 800 people in Romania, 560 in Hungary, and more than 100 in Slovakia.

To date, nearly 600 citizens in Romania and about 400 citizens in Poland have registered to return home.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam agreed to let Vietnam Airlines make the third flight from Bucharest, Romania to Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi. The flight is expected to land in the capital city on Friday. A representative of Vietnam Airlines said the Boeing 787 aircraft flight carried a maximum of 283 passengers.

Because flights to Ukraine are not permitted due to the country’s status as a war zone, airlines have planned flights to neighboring countries such as Warsaw (Poland), Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary), Bratislava (Slovakia), Moscow (Russia), and Minsk (Belarus).

On Sunday, the Hanoi Department of Health issued a written agreement saying Vietnamese people from Ukraine neither need to be tested for Coronavirus nor a Covid-19 vaccination certificate or a Covid-19 recovery certificate before boarding.

However, people entering the country must strictly adhere to the Ministry of Health's Covid-19 prevention and control rules.