Are Vietnamese returning from Korea to their home country forced to stay in hotel quarantine for $ 100 a day?

Hundreds of passengers from Korea to Vietnam are frustrated when they receive notice to change the cost of hotel insulation from 1.3 million VND / day to 5 million VND / day.

Consequently, Vietjet’s international commercial flight from Incheon – Tan Son Nhat with number VJ963 carrying 158 Vietnamese passengers arrived at Tan Son Nhat airport at 12:30 pm on September 30, 2020.

However, after more than 10 hours of landing at Tan Son Nhat airport, hundreds of passengers still have to wait at the airport due to conflicts over the hotel’s isolation. Consequently, many people said that when booking a ticket, the agency announced the isolation concentration, but when they arrived at the airport, they were forced to sign a written consent to isolate themselves at the hotel at a price beyond their ability to pay. .

On Facebook, a person named Le Hung (Le Hung), a live broadcast lasting more than 35 minutes shows hundreds of customers, including the elderly and children, waiting. Many others argued with Vietjet staff. This video attracted almost 8 thousand likes, 21 thousand shares.

The video also shows an elderly man who is said to have passed out, lying on the floor due to so much waiting.

Responding to BBC News in Vietnamese on the morning of October 1, Ms. Ho Thi Loan, a passenger on this flight, said:

“We waited up to 10 hours, the quarantine has not yet been resolved. At the beginning we said that the price was 1.3 million VND / 4 people / day. When we worked with the hotel, it was 1.3 million VND / 1 person. / 1 day. After that, the team increased to 1.7 million / day, then 2 million / day, and finally 5 million / day, “Ms Loan said.

After Vietnam reopened routes with some countries, including South Korea, Vietjet airline officially announced that it would re-establish the round-trip route connecting Vietnam and South Korea.

Consequently, as of September 30, Vietjet will begin to operate between Ho Chi Minh City and Seoul (Incheon, South Korea) with a frequency of 1 departure every Wednesday.

Ms. Ho Thi Loan said that when she received information that the airline opened to sell afternoon tickets to Vietnam, she signed up to buy tickets through an airline ticket agent for around 8 million VND / ticket.

Ms. Loan said that when she went to the airport, she and many other passengers had to sign the register with the medical statement. Registration is an agreement about the flight, such as hotel quarantine, transportation, testing and other related costs:

“When I bought the tickets, I asked about the quarantine, the agent announced that about 120,000 VND / day would be quarantined in the military zone. However, upon checking in at the Incheon airport, all the passengers were arrested. Regarding the minutes with content, we will quarantine the hotel at the price of about 100 USD / person / night and we will not have any complaints, if we do not agree to sign, do not get on the plane, it means ticket self-destruction “.

“We complained about why we had to sign because before we said they were in central isolation, now we have to sign the agreement to isolate the hotel,” Loan said.

Ms. Loan also explained that because the check-in staff is Korean, the language is different, so she cannot explain. Therefore, you need to sign it and plan to resolve it after your return to Vietnam.

Returning to Vietnam, many people do not accept the above price and complain.

Tuoi Tre reported that upon landing, the airline staff reported that the cost of insulation at the hotel was VND 1.3 million / room / day (4 people / room). All passengers agree. Just a few minutes later, the passenger received a message that he could not find the hotel with the original price, so he moved to another hotel with a higher price, 1.7 million VND / day, then the new one was announced price at 5 million VND / day. day.

Ms Loan told the BBC:

“After arguing, someone from Vietjet said that the price of the hotel dropped to 1.3 million VND / 4 people / day. Many people also agreed to go, to the hotel, it changed to 1.3 million VND / 1. People / day. Those people don’t agree. So they give the price of 1.7 million VND / person with baby. “

“Because there is no agreement, everyone has to pretend at the airport, the children cry, the elderly faint. There is no wholesale food at the airport, Vietjet does not offer food or drink. Until 9:00 am. Several nights I begged them to let the relatives buy ready-to-eat rice, until then they give it. Ask them to settle this type of offer at this price, then raise the price again, ”said Ms. Loan.

“I feel cheated,” she said.

Live broadcast about the personal Facebook incident, Mr. Le Hung described:

“I broadcast live so everyone knows, next trip to learn from the experience, don’t let people find out.”

Mr. Le Hung explained: “A lot of people think we are stingy, $ 100 / day but we don’t live. Being stingy is also fine because we are workers, sorry for the money we earn, we have the right to choose whether to live or not. But because Viettjet, at the beginning when selling tickets, said that there were two options, whoever wanted to stay in the hotel, who wanted to isolate himself, met in the Cu Chi military zone, but went to Incheon Airport, Korea, to get If you receive a ticket, you must sign the quarantine agreement at the hotel to get on the plane. ”

“I planned to board the plane first, then go back to Vietnam to complain. When I asked Vietjet staff that mandatory hotel isolation is the decision of which agency or department, they look the other way and do not respond,” Mr. Hung reported .

In the document that the airline Vietjet brought customers to sign before boarding the plane, there are clear regulations on the prevention of epidemics and the initial notification of the estimated quarantine price of up to 100 USD / person / night, with a quarantine period of 14 days. .

Mr. Hung also filmed a scene where some people had to peel raw instant noodles to eat because they were hungry, an old woman was said to have passed out from waiting so long.

At the same time, Mr. Hung raised the problem of people fainting: “Human life is important, death needs to be resolved quickly, or the spread of Covid-19 infection can cause a crisis.”

Vietjet informed the press that it had mobilized the best support force for the passengers to return to the safe isolation zone. The reason is that the price of the hotel insulation cannot be agreed.

Speaking to the BBC, the Vietjet media representative said that he hoped that passengers would sympathize with the problems arising from this unwanted situation.

Vietjet Information has supported and coordinated with the Aviation Department, the Airport, the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control, accommodation units and hotels to support passengers in quarantine facilities of according to regulations.

Consequently, from 5:45 p.m. on the same day, there were customers on the bus to the hotel and the quarantine facilities. At 10:00 p.m., the last flights carried all the passengers and the supported flight crew to transport them to other quarantine facilities, including the Can Gio hospital.

Responding to Thanh Nien, a representative from the International Center for Medical Quarantine (the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health) said, according to the official dispatch of the Ministry of Health that guides the temporary supervision of people entering Vietnam before enter Vietnam. At the scene, the person entering is required to register for a concentrated isolator for isolation implementation upon entry, along with a specific work schedule in Vietnam.

The representative said that for this group of passengers from Korea, the airline notified passengers purchasing flights to Vietnam to check in at the quarantine facility.

However, it also reported that free centralized quarantine sites had no more space.

Prior to the above developments, the Center has been actively in contact with concentrated isolation organizations to organize accommodation for this group of guests. At 9:00 p.m. yesterday, he said that the entire group of visitors was taken to isolation by the center of the Covid-19 Can Gio Hospital, a quarantine site without charge.

Confirmed to the BBC, Ms Ho Thi Loan said that the passengers of the flight were taken to the quarantine area at Can Gio on the night of September 30.

“We have to wait until we have a decision on which isolation room we can go to. It also takes about 2 more hours to get to the isolator in a hospital in Can Gio,” Loan said.

A Facebook user named Hoang Hung commented: “If you are faithful to the videos I share, this is forcing people to enter hotels, but people do not know how much it costs. It is true that this is an act of arresting people. people, which must be corrected immediately and not be repeated on future flights ”.

“Not everyone who goes abroad is rich enough to be willing to spend a few tens of millions of VND during 14 days of isolation. Even if you are rich, the price must be clear and transparent,” he said.

A representative from the International Center for Medical Quarantine told Thanh Nien newspaper: “This is the first time that a passenger has returned home to protest against paid isolation, even though it has been approved before. We will have a meeting to discuss the situation of righ now”. This situation is not recurring, and it is recommended to passengers on incoming flights as, apart from paid quarantine hotels, free quarantine sites are not available.