More than 500 Vietnamese citizens from Japan and France were brought home on June 29-30 in repatriation efforts that Vietnam has been making to keep its citizens abroad safe.

Vietnamese citizens in France wait to fly home. Photo: MOFA

On June 30, a group of 225 people from Japan reached the central city of Danang and 280 other passengers reached Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh one day earlier, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Passengers are those of with priority, including children under 18, the elderly, preganant women, the sick, laborers with expired contracts and without shelter, students whose dormitories closed, and other special cases.

As required by Vietnam’s Ministry of Health, all crewmember and passengers have been quarantined for 14 days after touching homeland soil.

Vietnam, the country with 355 coronavirus infections and no deaths reported so far, is reopening the economy while Japan is setting up movement restrictions in several parts of the country. Japan has confirmed 18,593 cases while France has reported 164,801 cases and 29,843 deaths, according to data of Johns Hopkins University.

Vietnam has operated several repatriation flights from France and Japan. 

Under the government’s plans, Vietnam has been repatriating its citizens from abroad based on the pandemic evolution, the country’s quarantine capacity, and demand of passengers. Nearly 11,000 Vietnamese nationals have been brought home.