Criminal Sent Home under MOU with Vietnam
Media Release - DPS 47/2003
A convicted criminal has 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.
Australasian Correctional Management officers escorted the man on a commercial flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on 18 July 2003.
The man has convictions for numerous criminal offences including possession of an unlicensed firearm and armed robbery, resulting in prison sentences ranging up to eight years.
He was subsequently held in immigration detention at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in New South Wales prior to his 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 18 people awaiting deportation to Vietnam under the MOU.
This brings to 36 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 two men in June, three men in May, two men in April 2003 and four men in March 2003.
18 July 2003
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