President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (standing) works with leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies on citizen protection in Ukraine. (Photo: VOV)

Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies to give the highest priority to protecting Vietnamese expatriates in Ukraine amidst escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, VOV reported on March 6.

Special attention must be paid to protecting citizens to ensure no Vietnamese people in war zones will be killed or injured, and none of them will be left hungry or cold during the evacuation, Phuc told leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies.

He applauded the Government’s plan to launch repatriation flights to bring home those stranded in Ukraine and suggested that the elderly, women, and children should take priority.

The President directed the Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine to proactively plan and ensure the life and property of Vietnamese citizens in their host country. Ministries and agencies were requested to arrange human resources to welcome and support Vietnamese citizens wishing to return home.

During the meeting, President Phuc also spoke highly of efforts made by OVs abroad to support their countrymen in Ukraine, VNA cited.

Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine (Photo: VNA)

Following the direction of the Party Central Committee’ Secretariat, the Government established a special working group to deal with issues related to the situation in Ukraine, led by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, and the Prime Minister has issued an official document on protecting Vietnamese citizens and legal entities.

According to the Vietnamese Ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Hong Thach, the embassy has coordinated with relevant agencies to support and take all Vietnamese expats who wish to be evacuated out of war zones.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are approximately 7,000 Vietnamese expatriates living in Ukraine. About 2,500 of them have fled out of war zones to a safe place, or to neighboring countries such as Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Slovakia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has worked alongside relevant agencies of Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations as well as countries to which Vietnamese citizens have been evacuated, to ensure the safe passage of human movement as well as timely support in terms of food and accommodation.

By March 6, more than 400 Vietnamese people from Ukraine have evacuated to Romania, and about 1,000 others to Poland, wishing to return to Vietnam.

According to the schedule, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will bring home 283 Vietnamese citizens from Bucharest (Romania) on March 8. Budget airline Bamboo Airways will fly to Hanoi (Vietnam) from Warsaw (Poland) on March 10 with approximately 270 citizens on board.

In accordance with a Government’s official dispatch dated February 26 on protecting Vietnamese citizens and legal entities and issues of concerns in the current situation in Ukraine, Vietnamese ministries, sectors, and representative offices in Ukraine and neighboring countries of Poland, Russia, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia have closely worked together to carry out citizen protection measures, ensuring security and safety, as well as necessary conditions to evacuate Vietnamese citizens from the combat zone and help them return to Vietnam if they want to, the spokesperson said.

Vietnamese representative offices in those countries have operated citizen protection hotlines round the clock to update Vietnamese traveling from Ukraine on safe travel routes, and worked with organizations to receive and support the displaced.

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