Indonesia retrieves 37 citizens stuck in Vietnam due to travel restrictions

They departed Vietnam’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City via a Vietjet Air flight, Jakarta Post reported.

The repatriation flight carried the Indonesian citizens who had visited Vietnam for internships, traveling as well as workers laid off due to Covid-19. They had been stranded in the country for the past month due to travel restrictions imposed by the Vietnamese government to curb the spread of the pandemic.

Indonesia is currently the second largest Covid-19 hotspot in Southeast Asia, following Singapore. The country has recorded more than 9,000 Covid-19 cases and 765 deaths.

On Sunday, 105 Vietnamese nationals stuck in Indonesia were repatriated on a Vietjet Air flight that landed at Can Tho International Airport in Mekong Delta. Passengers all paid their own fares.

Earlier this month, 31 Indonesian crew members of two cargo ships that docked at Quang Ninh Port in northern Vietnam since mid-March were repatriated after finishing their 14-day quarantine.

Over 3,000 foreign tourists are stuck in Vietnam but only 11 percent wish to go home immediately, earlier reports revealed.

After Vietnam halted all international flights as a preventive measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, many countries have organized special flights to repatriate their citizens.

The Philippines Embassy repatriated 143 people last week.

Earlier, hundreds of Europeans including British, Germans and Italians were also sent home from Vietnam.