Two Criminals Removed under MOU with Vietnam
Media Release - DPS 42/2003
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 tonight.
The men were escorted on a commercial flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam by Australasian Correctional Management officers, on 25 June 2003.
One of the men had applied for an injunction against his deportation but the Federal Court dismissed the matter yesterday afternoon and the man was removed as scheduled.
Both men were convicted for criminal offences (one for possession of a prohibited import, one for a variety of property related offences) and served prison sentences ranging up to five years.
They were subsequently held in immigration detention at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in New South Wales prior to their removal.
'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 19 people awaiting deportation to Vietnam under the MOU.
This brings to 35 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 three men in May, two men in April
2003 and four men in March 2003.
25 June 2003
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