Sri Lanka looks for early repatriation of those rescued in Vietnam

Sri Lanka is looking for the early repatriation of the Lankan passengers rescued midsea and brought to the Port of Vung Tau in Vietnam,  the Foreign ministry said today.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to work closely with the Sri Lanka Missions in the Philippines, Singapore, Viet Nam and IOM for early repatriation, once the screening process to ascertain their nationality and other formalities are completed,’ the Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it informed the Sri Lanka Navy that they had received information about a vessel carrying approximately 303 persons believed to be Sri Lankans which was in distress in the waters between the Philippines and Viet Nam on 07 November 2022. The Sri Lanka Navy having contacted the vessel, informed that the crew had abandoned the vessel with the passengers onboard.

On the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordination with the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Missions in the Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam together with the regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centers (MRCC) based in Singapore, the rescue efforts were coordinated, the Ministry said..

Subsequently, the Japanese-flagged vessel, “Helios Leader”, having been contacted by the Singapore MRCC, rescued the passengers from the distressed vessel. The passengers were handed over to Viet Nam authorities at Vung Tau Port in South Viet Nam, the Ministy said.

The screening of the passengers will be done by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in coordination with the Viet Nam authorities and the Sri Lanka Embassy in Viet Nam, the Ministry added..