May 20, 2025
HANOI – Immigration officers involved in a controversial incident at Phú Quốc International Airport last week, where an officer was reported to have torn a passenger’s boarding pass during exit procedures, have been suspended from work.
The Immigration Department under Việt Nam’s Ministry of Public Security announced Monday that the decision of temporary suspension aims to facilitate a thorough investigation into the responsibility of the individuals involved.
According to official sources, the incident occurred during the processing of exit procedures for a family of four from Taiwan (China) returning from the southern island Phú Quốc to Kaohsiung on May 13.
While verifying their documents, an immigration officer from the airport’s border police reportedly requested that the group present their passports individually, as some may have included accompanying children.
However, the passengers allegedly refused to cooperate and exhibited inappropriate behaviour. Amid rising tensions, miscommunication due to a language barrier—the passengers spoke Chinese while the officer communicated in English—further escalated the situation.
Believing that the passengers were shouting and insulting him, the officer lost his temper and tore one of the passenger’s boarding passes.
Upon learning of the incident, senior officials at Phú Quốc’s airport border police promptly assigned another officer to assist the affected passengers. The passengers were helped to reprint the boarding pass and successfully completed exit procedures in accordance with regulations.
The immigration department confirmed that appropriate disciplinary measures will be taken in line with internal regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.
The case has drawn public attention both in Việt Nam and Taiwan amid broader discussions about professional conduct and service standards of border control authorities.
Per the Thread posts of the passenger (in Chinese), it appeared her family of four, including her and her husbands along with two children, were told to line up in pairs of two in front of the counter, but then was told to queue at the back of another line. She was confused and asked for the reasons why in Chinese to both the officers and to her husband, which she said might have prompted the officer to think she was yelling at him.
Afterwards, several other passengers were processed while the family was ignored, so she went to the counter and tell the officer to let them in. The officer got angry and tore up the boarding pass in half.
She also said the local tour guide called her, saying that the Việt Nam’s customs went to the travel agency to apologise to her.