Six Convicted Criminals Removed under International Agreement
Media Release - DPS 62/2003
Six convicted 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 commercial flights to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam by Australasian Correctional Management officers, in separate removals on 9, 10 and 11 September 2003.
The men had been held in immigration detention prior to departure. One was held in Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre in Victoria, three at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney, one in Perth Immigration detention Centre Western Australia and one at the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre in Queensland.
All six men had convictions for numerous criminal offences including drug trafficking and armed robbery, resulting in prison sentences ranging up to eight 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 15 people awaiting deportation to Vietnam under the MOU.
This brings to 42 the number of Vietnamese nationals removed under the MOU with the Vietnamese Government, which was signed in June 2001.
Prior to these removals the most recent deportations to Vietnam under the MOU were of one man in July, two men in June, three men in May, two men in April 2003 and four men in March 2003.
14 September 2003