Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said that, according to information from Vietnamese representative agencies abroad and relevant functional agencies, so far, basically Vietnamese citizens traveling, transiting, and temporarily having flights canceled due to closed airspace have returned to Vietnam or have boarded the next flight to leave the Middle East region.
For Vietnamese ships and crew members operating in the Middle East that cannot leave the Strait of Hormuz, Vietnamese representative agencies abroad are closely coordinating with local functional agencies. Relevant functional agencies continuously update and closely monitor the situation and are ready to take support measures to ensure security and safety for both people and ships.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed the Vietnamese Embassies in Israel, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar to open online registration to summarize the wishes of citizens who want to return home or go to third countries to serve as a basis for coordinating with functional agencies and developing support plans.
Implementing the direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnamese representative agencies in Iran and Israel as well as in neighboring regions have reviewed the needs of Vietnamese citizens in the host country and closely coordinated with local functional agencies and relevant functional agencies in the country to implement appropriate plans.
Regarding citizen protection activities of some countries, the Vietnamese Embassy in Saudi Arabia has worked with local authorities and has been agreed by Saudi Arabia to grant free transit visas to Vietnamese citizens at border gates as well as at Saudi Arabian representative offices in the region.
For ships with Vietnamese crew members stranded at Saudi Arabian ports, at the request of the Embassy, the seaport management agency has proactively contacted the ship and representatives of Vietnamese crew members to grasp the situation and support the necessary requests of Vietnamese citizens.
The Vietnamese Embassy in the UAE has worked with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and airlines of this country to request support and create favorable conditions to take more than 200 Vietnamese citizens traveling and being stranded at major airports such as the airport in Dubai or Zayed airport. At the same time, the Embassy also received many Vietnamese citizens and provided essential necessities while they could not leave Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
We also want to once again emphasize that Vietnamese citizens in Iran, Israel and neighboring countries need to regularly monitor information from local authorities and warnings from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Vietnamese representative agencies abroad.
In case of emergency or difficulty, Vietnamese citizens can immediately contact the 24/7 citizen protection hotlines of Vietnamese representative agencies in the above-mentioned countries and regions or the Citizen Protection Hotline of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for immediate support" - Ms. Pham Thu Hang emphasized.
