Nearly 100 Vietnamese people currently working in Belarus are in dire straits because of non-payment.
Getting bank loans of nearly VND100 million to pay for a chance to work in Belarus, many out of the 98 Vietnamese people recorded as working in Belarus are now suffering from starvation, instead of the lifestyle-changing experience they expected. Some have even been reduced to homelessness and begging for food.
These workers have signed contracts to work in Belarus with IDC JSC and INMASCO Company, both of which are headquartered in Hanoi. Due to their desperate lives in Belarus, these workers have asked for help through media and social networks, including Lao Dong and Doi Song newspapers.
Vo Van Tam, from central Ha Tinh Province, said, “We’ve signed a three-year labour contract with IDC and INMASCO with a promised monthly payment of USD500 per monh. I had to pay a total of nearly VND100 million for INMASCO, so I had to use our family’s house as collateral. ”
Other Vietnamese nationals were compelled to take out loans to pay for these fees, but the services offered were very disappointing to them after being promised so much. Frequently, the contracts they were under required them to take on harder labour.
“While we’re all under clear work contracts, some people had to go to work as cleaners at construction sites and work overtime for low pay. Even though they promised to pay us USD500 per month, we received only USD350 for March. We still haven't been paid for April, May and June,” said Nguyen Van Dieu, from Ha Tinh Province.
Another worker, Tam, said he had to work for 12 hours a day instead of the eight hours she had agreed to. His payment was cut to between USD300 and USD400 per month because he did not work overtime.
Because of these problems, eight workers have been sent back to Vietnam, while some of the remaining 90 have had to take out loans in order to cover the cost of daily living.
“When we ask the company for basic payment, they actually hired gangsters to force us to continue to work. The situation is only getting worse. When we’re ill we still have to work. In April, one worker from Ha Tinh Province died because she was sick and die not receive proper medical care," said a worker named Vinh.
Some members of the group have called upon the Vietnamese embassy for help. The embassy, however, stated that they were unable to provide support, forcing some into homelessness and destitution.
In August a representative from INMASCO traveled to Belarus to sort out some of the conflict between employers and workers. The workers were given two options: either return home, or the company would help to collect payment. Since many have gone under what they see as false pretenses, there is not a lot of trust in the company among Vietnamese workers.
Tran Quang Toan, from INMASCO, admitted that the situation was not ideal, saying that they are trying to demand payment from the employers in Belarus, but only expect an answer after September 30.
