An Australian state stops accepting Vietnamese students in Nghe An, Ha Tinh, and Quang Binh.

Một bang tại Úc dừng nhận học sinh Việt Nam ở Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình- Ảnh 1. — Sunnie Nguyen, a female student who is currently missing mysteriously in Adelaide, South Australia

Reason for suspension

To study in South Australia at the public secondary level or in some other educational fields, Vietnamese students need to register through the International Education program. This program has been implemented since 1989 by the South Australian Department of Education and has so far attracted thousands of international students, with Vietnamese students being one of the largest groups.

However, from this point on, the international education program will temporarily stop accepting Vietnamese students from the three provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh. The decision was made in the process of reviewing the origin of a small group of Vietnamese students who have gone missing in Australia recently, and in compliance with the Education Services for Overseas Students Act (ESOS 2000) to protect the integrity of the country's visa system, according to a spokesperson for the South Australian Department of Education.

"The decision to suspend will be reviewed if necessary," the spokesperson stressed, but did not specify the time or specific context for the review.

South Australia stops accepting Vietnamese students in Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh

According to a spokesperson for the South Australian Department of Education, the police are working to locate the missing Vietnamese students. On the other hand, the agency continues to work with the police, host families, schools and study abroad consulting companies to ensure the best outcome for all parties.

Previously, in response to Thanh Nien Newspaper on January 18, a spokesperson for the South Australian Department of Education said that the missing Vietnamese students had all left their host families' homes without permission. In each case, the South Australian Department of Education immediately contacted local police and the students' families in Vietnam to report the news. And so far, the agency has been able to contact the students' families in Vietnam.

New updates

Sunnie Nguyen (17 years old, from Quang Binh) mysteriously disappeared in Australia on the evening of January 8 after dinner at the home of her host family. She is the 5th Vietnamese international student to go missing since December 2023. All of them studied at Hamilton High School (Adelaide City, South Australia), each of them went missing at a different time and the police determined that there was no connection between the missing cases.

Previously, in response to the Daily Mail on February 1, Ms. May Zervaas, the indigenous guardian family of Sunnie Nguyen, said that since the student turned off her phone and deleted all social media when she went missing, she has been trying to contact her through different channels in recent weeks and hoped that one of them would be active again. "But so far there is still no news," Ms. Zervaas shared.

A South Australian police spokesman said on January 29 that they believe the missing Vietnamese students are "actively hiding from authorities." The spokesman added that South Australian police are continuing to cooperate with police from other states as well as the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to assist in locating the missing Vietnamese teenagers.

The information was released as South Australia just finished its summer holidays and started the new school year on January 29. According to the South Australian Department of Education, in 2024, there were more than 185,000 young people studying in schools and kindergartens across the state. This number includes international students, including Vietnamese.

This case has caused a stir in public opinion in Australia and Vietnam because one of the missing Vietnamese students, Sunnie Nguyen, is believed to have a visa of up to 3 years remaining. She was also described by her host family as shy, having difficulty communicating in English and "still having to rely on others to interpret for her" when going out, even though she had been in Australia for more than 6 months.

Thanh Nien Newspaper will continue to update the latest information about the case of 5 Vietnamese students missing in Australia.

Overview of the missing Vietnamese student case

June 2023: Sunnie Nguyen arrived in Australia to study at Hamilton High School. She lives with a host family in South Plympton, a suburb of Adelaide, with two other international students. Her daily routine includes going to school, coming home for dinner, filming videos with her housemates, and occasionally working part-time at a nail salon 15 km from school.

January 8, 2024: After having dinner with her host family at around 7pm, Sunnie went to her room to rest. When the host checked the room at 11pm, she was gone, along with her backpack, laptop, some clothes and some important personal documents. The host then tried to contact Sunnie, but her phone was turned off and her social media accounts were deleted. Thirty minutes later, the host reported her missing to the police.

January 11: South Australian police revealed that Sunnie is the fifth Vietnamese student to go missing, one of whom has been missing for more than a month. The incident has been going on since December 2023. Police also announced that the five disappearances (one of which has been located) are unrelated. On the same day, Sunnie's best friend also moved into her house and is said to have no knowledge of the student's mysterious disappearance.

January 18: The South Australian Department of Education told Thanh Nien Newspaper that the Vietnamese students had left their homestay families without permission, and that the Australian education agency had also contacted their families. The students were also not in any danger at this time.

January 29: South Australian police believe the missing Vietnamese students are "actively hiding from authorities".

February 6: The Department of Education continued to inform Thanh Nien Newspaper that South Australia has temporarily stopped accepting students from Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh (the hometowns of the missing Vietnamese students) to study at public secondary schools and some other educational fields across the state.

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