The story of the person returning from "hell on earth" (continued)

Part 2: Mother waiting for news from her son, wife waiting for her husband...

(Baonghean) -The escape of Lo Van Thin and Lo Van Khoa from a gold mine in Phuoc Son district (Quang Nam province) and their return to reunite with their families and children was a stroke of luck. But according to Mr. Thin’s description, there must be many wives and mothers who are looking day and night to the “promised land” for news of their husbands and children...

We visited the homes of Mr. Lo Van Long (born in 1960) and Mr. Lo Van Vinh (born in 1985), two people from the same neighborhood who went on the same trip with Mr. Lo Van Thin. Mr. Thin said that before he escaped, he met Mr. Long. At that time, he had just been brutally beaten, his hands and feet were swollen. The reason was that Mr. Long was old and weak and could not do much, the gold mine owners tried to cause trouble and had their henchmen beat him, now it was unclear whether he was alive or dead. Hearing this, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu, Mr. Long's wife, burst into tears. She said through sobs: "He said he would go in there to pick up rocks and gravel, build roads, but it's been almost 2 months and he hasn't called, and when he calls, he can't be reached. He was tricked, I don't know if he's alive or dead, oh my god..."

Looking around the small, dilapidated house of the owner, we noticed that there was almost nothing of value. Mrs. Thu sobbed again: "It's because the family is so poor, has many children, one of them is studying at Hue University of Economics, so he has to work hard to earn money to raise his children...".

The worried and disappointed faces of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu (left) and
pleading eyes when thinking about her son, Mrs. Lo Thi Nhat.

Seeing us come to her house and ask about her son, Mrs. Lo Thi Nhat could not hold back her tears. She said: “Vinh is very hard-working and diligent, because he knows his parents are very poor and have many siblings. At the beginning of the year, he heard people inviting him to go to Da Nang or Quang Nam to build roads, with high income. He went with Uncle Thin and Uncle Long. Since the day he left, he has not called home once. Since Uncle Thin came back to tell the story, I have been unable to eat or sleep, not knowing whether Vinh is alive or dead.” Having said that, Mrs. Nhat grabbed our hands tightly, her eyes pleading, her voice breaking: “Please find a way to help and save my son...!”.

According to Mr. Lo Van Thin, in the gold mine where he works, there are quite a lot of Nghe An people, mainly ethnic minorities from mountainous districts such as Que Phong, Quy Hop, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Tan Ky (Tien Ky commune, Tan Ky district alone has up to 9 people). And most of the people from Tien Ky commune who came here were invited by Nguyen Van Hoan and his wife.

Working with the Tien Ky Commune Police, Mr. Nguyen Van Dao (Commune Police Chief) said that from the beginning of 2011 until now, the whole commune has had more than 200 people come to register for temporary absence but no one has applied for temporary residence procedures in Quang Nam province. This means that local people who go to work in Quang Nam do not complete the temporary residence or temporary absence registration procedures. When asked about some local people who were tricked into gold mines and escaped and returned, we received the answer: "We have heard about it, but no one has come to report or file a complaint". Mr. La Thanh Hai (Deputy Commune Police Chief) said that according to his survey results, the whole Tien Ky commune has about 19 people working for hire in Da Nang and Quang Nam, some families have up to 2 people (two brothers or two fathers and sons) going together. Currently, the family still has no way to contact them. And it is worth noting that most of these people have low qualifications and their families are in financial difficulty, so they are easily deceived.

We learned that Nguyen Van Hoan and Luong Thi Oanh, a couple, live in Hamlet 11, Tien Ky Commune. Both of them often work far away and rarely participate in local activities. Currently, they are not in the area. Local people added that since hearing that Lo Van Thin had escaped from Phuoc Son District (Quang Nam), Nguyen Van Hoan and his wife left home and no one knows where they went.

Leaving the poor land of Tien Ky with its simple and honest people, we could not help but feel uneasy and troubled. We think that the authorities at all levels and the relevant agencies need to take action soon to severely punish the scammers and help the pitiful people like Mr. Long, Mr. Thin, Mr. Vinh in Tien Ky, and in all other rural areas to escape from being deceived and tormented in this “hell on earth”.

Bui Cong Kien