REPORT RESULTS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE NEGOTIATING DELEGATION ON THE AGREEMENT ON THE RETURN OF VIETNAMESE-POLISH CITIZENS
04/12/2025
In accordance with the assignment of civil servants to participate in the negotiating delegation for the Agreement on the Repatriation of Vietnamese Citizens between Vietnam and Poland in Poland and Decision No. 3302/QD-BTP dated November 19, 2025, amending Decision No. 3040/QD-BTP, I, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Giang, Head of the International Law Department, Ministry of Justice, participated in the negotiating delegation for the Agreement on the Repatriation of Vietnamese Citizens between Vietnam and Poland in Poland from November 24, 2025, to November 28, 2025 (excluding travel time)
REPORT
RESULTS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE NEGOTIATING DELEGATION ON THE AGREEMENT ON THE RETURN OF VIETNAMESE-POLISH CITIZENS
RESULTS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE NEGOTIATING DELEGATION ON THE AGREEMENT ON THE RETURN OF VIETNAMESE-POLISH CITIZENS
In accordance with the assignment of civil servants to participate in the negotiating delegation for the Agreement on the Repatriation of Vietnamese Citizens between Vietnam and Poland in Poland and Decision No. 3302/QD-BTP dated November 19, 2025, amending Decision No. 3040/QD-BTP, I, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Giang, Head of the International Law Department, Ministry of Justice, participated in the negotiating delegation for the Agreement on the Repatriation of Vietnamese Citizens between Vietnam and Poland in Poland from November 24, 2025, to November 28, 2025 (excluding travel time). I would like to report to the Deputy Minister and the Directors of the Departments of International Law, Personnel Organization, and International Cooperation on the results of the working trip as follows:
1. Regarding the time, location, and participants of the negotiations
- Time: From November 24, 2025 to November 28, 2025 (excluding travel time) in Warsaw, Poland.
- Negotiation location: Mercure Hotel, Warsaw Center.
- Delegation members:
+ On the Vietnamese side: Colonel Pham Hoang Diep, Deputy Director, Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security (Head of Delegation); members of the Delegation include: Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Giang, Head of Department, Ministry of Justice; Lieutenant Colonel Pham Trung Kien, Deputy Head of Department, Foreign Security Department, Ministry of Public Security; Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Thanh Tung, Deputy Head of Department, Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security; Ms. Pham Quynh Anh, Specialist, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tien Dung, Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security; Major Le Xuan Thao, Department of Legal Affairs and Administrative and Judicial Reform, Ministry of Public Security; Major Chu Thanh Son and Captain Tran Hoang Tung, Department of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security.
+ On the Polish side: The Head of the Legal Unit, General Department of Border Guard, led the delegation. Members of the delegation included representatives from the unit managing foreigners at the General Department of Border Guard, the Head of the Identity Verification Department of the General Department of Border Guard, experts from the legal office of the General Department of Border Guard, and the Head of the International Treaties Department of the Ministry of Interior.
I traveled to and from Poland on schedule, fully complying with the regulations of the host country's laws and the working group's regulations.
2. Negotiation Results
The two negotiating delegations exchanged information stating that in January 2025, the leaders of the two Ministries of both sides agreed to amend the documents related to the repatriation of citizens of both countries, and the internal procedures of both sides have been completed to proceed with negotiations. Both sides agreed to negotiate the Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Republic of Poland on amending the Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the draft Agreement) by first exchanging general issues, and then negotiating each article of the draft Agreement.
Regarding general issues, the Vietnamese negotiating delegation proposed that the Polish side negotiate a new Agreement, replacing both the Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Republic of Poland on the transfer and repatriation of citizens of the two countries signed in 2004 (the 2004 Agreement), the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement, and the document currently under negotiation. Negotiating a new Agreement will facilitate its application and reference, and, in accordance with the practice of international treaties on the repatriation of Vietnamese citizens signed with other countries recently, we will only sign the Agreement, without the accompanying Protocol as in the previous phase. During the exchange, Poland stated that it only has the authority to amend the 2004 Agreement and the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement, but not the authority to negotiate a new Agreement. The Vietnamese delegation agreed to continue negotiations on the draft Agreement amending and supplementing the 2004 Agreement and the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement.
Regarding the title, in the introduction of the draft Agreement, the Polish negotiating delegation proposed that simply stating "Agreement amending and supplementing the 2004 Agreement" would suffice. However, the Vietnamese delegation proposed adding "Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement," arguing that the 2004 Agreement and the Protocol implementing the Agreement are two separate international treaties, and the content of the draft Agreement amends and supplements the provisions of the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement (as stated in Article 2 of the draft Agreement). The Polish delegation agreed to add the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement to the title and preamble of the draft Agreement.
Regarding specific content, the two negotiating delegations exchanged and agreed on many technical issues. In addition, the two delegations also agreed to amend and supplement specific provisions in the 2004 Agreement and the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement, such as adding Clause 3 to Article 1 of the 2004 Agreement (“The transfer of citizens shall be carried out within the framework of commercial flights or charter flights”); for the Protocol, amending point b of Clause 1, Article 1; adding point k to Clause 3, Article 1; adding Clauses 71 and 7b to Article 4; amending Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 5; amending Clause 2 and adding Clause 2a to Article 6.
Besides the agreed contents, after the conclusion of the negotiation round, several major issues are expected to be discussed in the next round of negotiations as follows:
Firstly, Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 5 and Clause 2 of Article 11 of the Agreement, relating to the notification period for the time of transfer of persons when using commercial flights or charter flights, will continue to be discussed in subsequent rounds.
+ Clause 1 of Article 5: “The Vietnamese Party shall respond to the Polish Party’s request for the return of the transferred persons within 45 days (Vietnam)/30 days (Poland),...”.
+ Clause 2 of Article 5: “The Polish Party shall notify the Vietnamese Party of the expected time of transfer of Vietnamese citizens no later than 72 hours (Poland)/seven (07) working days for commercial flights and twenty-one (21) working days for charter flights before the date of transfer.”
+ Clause 2 of Article 11: Poland proposed adding, “The restrictions referred to in Clause 1 shall not apply to the transfer of citizens who endanger public order and national security of one of the Contracting Parties, and who have been convicted by a legally binding court judgment for a prohibited act, subject to punishment under the laws of one of the Contracting Parties, carried out in the territory of that Party.”
The Vietnamese delegation requested clarification on this proposed addition. The Polish delegation stated that these individuals are serving (completed) criminal sentences or endangering national security, and Poland hopes that this Agreement will apply to them. The Polish delegation requested that the addition be amended to state that the individual has completed their prison sentence in Poland. The Vietnamese delegation noted this information and will report back, as this is a new issue arising before the negotiation round and has not yet been discussed with relevant ministries and agencies.
Secondly, regarding Poland's proposal to replace the obligation to deliver a "Copy of the Deportation Decision" as stipulated in paragraph c, Article 4 of the Protocol, with the obligation to provide written information about the issuance of the deportation decision. The reason for this proposal is that new EU regulations on the protection of individual rights do not allow for the delivery of copies of deportation decisions. Poland proposed replacing this with a notification from the Polish Border Guard Service confirming the issuance of a valid deportation decision in accordance with paragraph c, Article 4 of the Protocol. However, the Vietnamese delegation argued that receiving copies of deportation decisions (even with EU signatory countries) has always been a normal practice, and replacing it with a notification would still include the name and number of the deportation decision, making the replacement of a copy of the deportation document unnecessary.
The two negotiating delegations agreed that this issue would be discussed in subsequent rounds of negotiations. Similarly, paragraph 2 of Article 4, which relates to this amendment, specifically that “Copies of the deportation decision and the documents referred to in Article 1 of the Protocol shall be translated into the official language of the receiving Party. Copies of these documents shall be notarized in accordance with the laws of the receiving Party,” was also discussed in the next round.
Thirdly, the Polish delegation proposed a provision in the Protocol regarding the participation of escort officers of the receiving Party in the repatriation of its own citizens (as referred to in Article 5 of the Protocol). The Polish delegation proposed that such participation should be carried out in exceptional cases with political grounds, on the basis of a request from the transferring Party and at the expense of that Party, provided that the receiving Party approves and on a case-by-case basis. The Vietnamese delegation did not accept this proposal. The Polish delegation suggested that this proposal be further studied and discussed in the next round of negotiations. The Vietnamese delegation stated that, unrelated to the negotiation results, if the Polish side makes a request in exceptional circumstances, the Vietnamese side will consider it.
Regarding this matter, during the negotiations, the Polish delegation informed about the discussion process concerning the proposal to add clauses 6-9 to Article 5 of the Protocol on the deployment of air security officers, which began in 2021 and was recorded in the working minutes. In 2022, further minutes were recorded on this issue. The Polish delegation will continue to pursue this matter, proposing its inclusion in the minutes and suggesting further discussion for Vietnam's consideration. The Vietnamese delegation also stated that Vietnam possesses all the working minutes mentioned by the Polish delegation, affirming its cooperation in this work, but none of the content was included in the Agreement. Regarding the specific case, if Poland sends a document to Vietnam, Vietnam is ready to cooperate and support the deployment of personnel.
During the negotiating delegation's meeting in Vietnam, members suggested careful consideration of adding clauses 6-9 to Article 5 of the draft Protocol on the deployment of air security officers to escort persons transferred under the provisions of the Agreement and Protocol. Particular attention should be paid to the responsibility of the Government if it receives its citizens on Polish territory, which would result in full liability. his situation arose after that time, including within Polish territory. This is also unprecedented in previous international treaties on the repatriation of Vietnamese citizens that Vietnam has signed. Therefore, accepting this proposal would mean creating a new precedent, potentially allowing many of our previous partners to amend similar proposals to reduce costs and responsibilities for their governments. Furthermore, according to information from the Ministry of Public Security, the functions and duties of the air security forces, which were recently enacted, need to be reviewed to determine whether or not this task is included. Therefore, the Vietnamese delegation disagrees with the Polish delegation's proposal and will report this clearly to the Government for consideration and decision. To demonstrate the spirit of cooperation and friendship, regarding Poland's proposals on each specific case, Vietnam will consider and decide (similar to what we do with Poland and other partners), but this is not a mandatory obligation.
This is expected to be the most difficult negotiating point of the draft Agreement in the second round of negotiations.
3. Proposals and Recommendations
Based on the developments and results of the participation of the negotiating delegation for the Agreement on the Repatriation of Citizens between Vietnam and Poland, I would like to propose and recommend the following points:
1. The field of repatriation of citizens is intertwined with many complex factors, so closely monitoring and contributing to this area is crucial in protecting the interests of the nation and its citizens in the territories of other countries. During the negotiations, the representative of the Ministry of Justice actively participated and contributed, receiving high recognition from the lead negotiating agency and representatives of ministries and sectors, as well as the Polish delegation. In the future, the Ministry of Justice should continue to pay attention to and promote this role in the negotiation process of international treaties in general and international treaties on the repatriation of citizens in particular.
2. The Agreement on the Repatriation of Vietnamese Citizens between Vietnam and Poland could not be concluded in a single round of negotiations in Poland. The parties plan to continue negotiations in subsequent rounds. The specific time and location will be discussed through diplomatic channels. Regarding the remaining issues expected to be negotiated, these are complex and sensitive matters as mentioned above. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice needs to continue proactively coordinating with the lead negotiating agency to prepare negotiation strategies and participate effectively in subsequent rounds, ensuring maximum national and ethnic interests.
The above is a report on the results of the negotiating delegation for the Agreement on the Repatriation of Vietnamese Citizens between Vietnam and Poland. This report is submitted to the Deputy Minister and the Directors of the Departments of International Law, Personnel Organization, and International Cooperation for their consideration.
- Time: From November 24, 2025 to November 28, 2025 (excluding travel time) in Warsaw, Poland.
- Negotiation location: Mercure Hotel, Warsaw Center.
- Delegation members:
+ On the Vietnamese side: Colonel Pham Hoang Diep, Deputy Director, Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security (Head of Delegation); members of the Delegation include: Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Giang, Head of Department, Ministry of Justice; Lieutenant Colonel Pham Trung Kien, Deputy Head of Department, Foreign Security Department, Ministry of Public Security; Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Thanh Tung, Deputy Head of Department, Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security; Ms. Pham Quynh Anh, Specialist, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tien Dung, Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security; Major Le Xuan Thao, Department of Legal Affairs and Administrative and Judicial Reform, Ministry of Public Security; Major Chu Thanh Son and Captain Tran Hoang Tung, Department of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security.
+ On the Polish side: The Head of the Legal Unit, General Department of Border Guard, led the delegation. Members of the delegation included representatives from the unit managing foreigners at the General Department of Border Guard, the Head of the Identity Verification Department of the General Department of Border Guard, experts from the legal office of the General Department of Border Guard, and the Head of the International Treaties Department of the Ministry of Interior.
I traveled to and from Poland on schedule, fully complying with the regulations of the host country's laws and the working group's regulations.
2. Negotiation Results
The two negotiating delegations exchanged information stating that in January 2025, the leaders of the two Ministries of both sides agreed to amend the documents related to the repatriation of citizens of both countries, and the internal procedures of both sides have been completed to proceed with negotiations. Both sides agreed to negotiate the Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Republic of Poland on amending the Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the draft Agreement) by first exchanging general issues, and then negotiating each article of the draft Agreement.
Regarding general issues, the Vietnamese negotiating delegation proposed that the Polish side negotiate a new Agreement, replacing both the Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Republic of Poland on the transfer and repatriation of citizens of the two countries signed in 2004 (the 2004 Agreement), the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement, and the document currently under negotiation. Negotiating a new Agreement will facilitate its application and reference, and, in accordance with the practice of international treaties on the repatriation of Vietnamese citizens signed with other countries recently, we will only sign the Agreement, without the accompanying Protocol as in the previous phase. During the exchange, Poland stated that it only has the authority to amend the 2004 Agreement and the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement, but not the authority to negotiate a new Agreement. The Vietnamese delegation agreed to continue negotiations on the draft Agreement amending and supplementing the 2004 Agreement and the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement.
Regarding the title, in the introduction of the draft Agreement, the Polish negotiating delegation proposed that simply stating "Agreement amending and supplementing the 2004 Agreement" would suffice. However, the Vietnamese delegation proposed adding "Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement," arguing that the 2004 Agreement and the Protocol implementing the Agreement are two separate international treaties, and the content of the draft Agreement amends and supplements the provisions of the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement (as stated in Article 2 of the draft Agreement). The Polish delegation agreed to add the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement to the title and preamble of the draft Agreement.
Regarding specific content, the two negotiating delegations exchanged and agreed on many technical issues. In addition, the two delegations also agreed to amend and supplement specific provisions in the 2004 Agreement and the Protocol implementing the 2004 Agreement, such as adding Clause 3 to Article 1 of the 2004 Agreement (“The transfer of citizens shall be carried out within the framework of commercial flights or charter flights”); for the Protocol, amending point b of Clause 1, Article 1; adding point k to Clause 3, Article 1; adding Clauses 71 and 7b to Article 4; amending Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 5; amending Clause 2 and adding Clause 2a to Article 6.
Besides the agreed contents, after the conclusion of the negotiation round, several major issues are expected to be discussed in the next round of negotiations as follows:
Firstly, Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 5 and Clause 2 of Article 11 of the Agreement, relating to the notification period for the time of transfer of persons when using commercial flights or charter flights, will continue to be discussed in subsequent rounds.
+ Clause 1 of Article 5: “The Vietnamese Party shall respond to the Polish Party’s request for the return of the transferred persons within 45 days (Vietnam)/30 days (Poland),...”.
+ Clause 2 of Article 5: “The Polish Party shall notify the Vietnamese Party of the expected time of transfer of Vietnamese citizens no later than 72 hours (Poland)/seven (07) working days for commercial flights and twenty-one (21) working days for charter flights before the date of transfer.”
+ Clause 2 of Article 11: Poland proposed adding, “The restrictions referred to in Clause 1 shall not apply to the transfer of citizens who endanger public order and national security of one of the Contracting Parties, and who have been convicted by a legally binding court judgment for a prohibited act, subject to punishment under the laws of one of the Contracting Parties, carried out in the territory of that Party.”
The Vietnamese delegation requested clarification on this proposed addition. The Polish delegation stated that these individuals are serving (completed) criminal sentences or endangering national security, and Poland hopes that this Agreement will apply to them. The Polish delegation requested that the addition be amended to state that the individual has completed their prison sentence in Poland. The Vietnamese delegation noted this information and will report back, as this is a new issue arising before the negotiation round and has not yet been discussed with relevant ministries and agencies.
Secondly, regarding Poland's proposal to replace the obligation to deliver a "Copy of the Deportation Decision" as stipulated in paragraph c, Article 4 of the Protocol, with the obligation to provide written information about the issuance of the deportation decision. The reason for this proposal is that new EU regulations on the protection of individual rights do not allow for the delivery of copies of deportation decisions. Poland proposed replacing this with a notification from the Polish Border Guard Service confirming the issuance of a valid deportation decision in accordance with paragraph c, Article 4 of the Protocol. However, the Vietnamese delegation argued that receiving copies of deportation decisions (even with EU signatory countries) has always been a normal practice, and replacing it with a notification would still include the name and number of the deportation decision, making the replacement of a copy of the deportation document unnecessary.
The two negotiating delegations agreed that this issue would be discussed in subsequent rounds of negotiations. Similarly, paragraph 2 of Article 4, which relates to this amendment, specifically that “Copies of the deportation decision and the documents referred to in Article 1 of the Protocol shall be translated into the official language of the receiving Party. Copies of these documents shall be notarized in accordance with the laws of the receiving Party,” was also discussed in the next round.
Thirdly, the Polish delegation proposed a provision in the Protocol regarding the participation of escort officers of the receiving Party in the repatriation of its own citizens (as referred to in Article 5 of the Protocol). The Polish delegation proposed that such participation should be carried out in exceptional cases with political grounds, on the basis of a request from the transferring Party and at the expense of that Party, provided that the receiving Party approves and on a case-by-case basis. The Vietnamese delegation did not accept this proposal. The Polish delegation suggested that this proposal be further studied and discussed in the next round of negotiations. The Vietnamese delegation stated that, unrelated to the negotiation results, if the Polish side makes a request in exceptional circumstances, the Vietnamese side will consider it.
Regarding this matter, during the negotiations, the Polish delegation informed about the discussion process concerning the proposal to add clauses 6-9 to Article 5 of the Protocol on the deployment of air security officers, which began in 2021 and was recorded in the working minutes. In 2022, further minutes were recorded on this issue. The Polish delegation will continue to pursue this matter, proposing its inclusion in the minutes and suggesting further discussion for Vietnam's consideration. The Vietnamese delegation also stated that Vietnam possesses all the working minutes mentioned by the Polish delegation, affirming its cooperation in this work, but none of the content was included in the Agreement. Regarding the specific case, if Poland sends a document to Vietnam, Vietnam is ready to cooperate and support the deployment of personnel.
During the negotiating delegation's meeting in Vietnam, members suggested careful consideration of adding clauses 6-9 to Article 5 of the draft Protocol on the deployment of air security officers to escort persons transferred under the provisions of the Agreement and Protocol. Particular attention should be paid to the responsibility of the Government if it receives its citizens on Polish territory, which would result in full liability. his situation arose after that time, including within Polish territory. This is also unprecedented in previous international treaties on the repatriation of Vietnamese citizens that Vietnam has signed. Therefore, accepting this proposal would mean creating a new precedent, potentially allowing many of our previous partners to amend similar proposals to reduce costs and responsibilities for their governments. Furthermore, according to information from the Ministry of Public Security, the functions and duties of the air security forces, which were recently enacted, need to be reviewed to determine whether or not this task is included. Therefore, the Vietnamese delegation disagrees with the Polish delegation's proposal and will report this clearly to the Government for consideration and decision. To demonstrate the spirit of cooperation and friendship, regarding Poland's proposals on each specific case, Vietnam will consider and decide (similar to what we do with Poland and other partners), but this is not a mandatory obligation.
This is expected to be the most difficult negotiating point of the draft Agreement in the second round of negotiations.
3. Proposals and Recommendations
Based on the developments and results of the participation of the negotiating delegation for the Agreement on the Repatriation of Citizens between Vietnam and Poland, I would like to propose and recommend the following points:
1. The field of repatriation of citizens is intertwined with many complex factors, so closely monitoring and contributing to this area is crucial in protecting the interests of the nation and its citizens in the territories of other countries. During the negotiations, the representative of the Ministry of Justice actively participated and contributed, receiving high recognition from the lead negotiating agency and representatives of ministries and sectors, as well as the Polish delegation. In the future, the Ministry of Justice should continue to pay attention to and promote this role in the negotiation process of international treaties in general and international treaties on the repatriation of citizens in particular.
2. The Agreement on the Repatriation of Vietnamese Citizens between Vietnam and Poland could not be concluded in a single round of negotiations in Poland. The parties plan to continue negotiations in subsequent rounds. The specific time and location will be discussed through diplomatic channels. Regarding the remaining issues expected to be negotiated, these are complex and sensitive matters as mentioned above. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice needs to continue proactively coordinating with the lead negotiating agency to prepare negotiation strategies and participate effectively in subsequent rounds, ensuring maximum national and ethnic interests.
The above is a report on the results of the negotiating delegation for the Agreement on the Repatriation of Vietnamese Citizens between Vietnam and Poland. This report is submitted to the Deputy Minister and the Directors of the Departments of International Law, Personnel Organization, and International Cooperation for their consideration.