On 14 June 2021, in accordance with the permission of the Prime Minister of Vietnam and the instructions of the Leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, the Consulate General of Vietnam in Osaka (in coordination with Embassy of Vietnam in Japan, the Consulate General of Vietnam in Fukuoka, the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies of Vietnam) successfully coordinated and arranged repatriation flights to bring 440 Vietnamese citizens stranded in Japan back home (from Osaka on Flight VJ7837 and from Fukuoka on Flight VJ2531 to Da Nang).
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan in Feb 2019, diplomatic missions of Vietnam in Japan have organized many repatriation flights to bring Vietnamese citizens back home. However, it was the first time that the repatriation flights were organized from Osaka and Fukuoka. Currently, there are approximately more than 60,000 Vietnamese citizens living, studying and working in Kansai region, in which it is estimated that there would be around 12.000 Vietnamese nationals would like to return to Vietnam by the end of 2021.
After the announcement by the Consulate General of Vietnam about the repatriation flight, more than 3000 Vietnamese people registered with the Consulate General of Vietnam in Osaka to request to return home on this flight. This flight was highly appreciated by representatives of local governments, friendship associations, the Executive Committee of the Vietnamese Association in Kansai, Japanese enterprises... They also expressed their wish that the Vietnamese Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Consular Department, and other relevant Vietnamese agencies, and the Consulate General of Vietnam in Osaka would organize more repatriation flights to bring Vietnamese nationals in Kansai region back home in the near future./.
