Singapore Sends Last Migrants Back to Vietnam

Singapore sent its last 99 Vietnamese migrants home Thursday as part of a U.N. program to shut its refugee camps in Southeast Asia.

A Vietnam Airlines Airbus carrying 80 adults and 19 children took off from Changi airport for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. About 50 police waited nearby during boarding.

Singapore and U.N. officials told reporters that the migrants were returning to their homeland voluntarily. They said each migrant had been paid $760 by Singapore and would receive $240 more later from the U.N. for resettlement.

The migrants’ departure came just ahead of a June 30 U.N. deadline for closing its sole refugee camp in Singapore. Over the last 20 years, about 32,300 migrants have come through Singapore. Most were resettled elsewhere.