Two Criminals Removed under MOU with Vietnam
Media Release - DPS 29/2003
Two criminals have been deported from Australia to Vietnam under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vietnamese Government, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) confirmed today.
The men were escorted on a commercial flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam by Australasian Correctional Management officers, in a removal on 29 April 2003.
The men had been held in immigration detention at the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre in Victoria prior to their removal.
Both men were convicted for criminal offences (one drug related, the other causing injury) and served sentences ranging from 12 months to almost four years.
'The successful return of criminal deportees under the MOU can be attributed to the high level of cooperation extended by both governments to the return arrangements,' a DIMIA spokesperson said.
There are a further 20 people awaiting deportation to Vietnam under the MOU.
This brings to 30 the number of Vietnamese nationals removed under the MOU with the Vietnamese Government, which was signed in June 2001.
Prior to the removals this week, the most recent deportations to Vietnam under the MOU were of four men in March 2003 and two men in November 2002.
29 April 2003
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