There is also the situation of spreading fake news and bad-mouthing each other among labor export businesses.

(Baonghean) - With more than 50 businesses registered to send workers abroad to work in the province, it has led to unhealthy competition such as spreading fake news and badmouthing each other.

Some of these companies even send brokers to work with the locality, receive brokerage fees from workers but then "abandon the workers".

Painful situation of fraud

In recent years, realizing the great demand for labor export in Nghe An, illegal recruitment lines for people to work abroad have sprung up like mushrooms. Because they do not go through the authorities, gullible people easily become victims of fraud lines. By the time they discover it, it is too late, "losing both money and health".

By going to rural and mountainous areas and approaching families who want to send their children to work abroad, scammers often take advantage of people's impatience, wanting to work quickly but not wanting to go through training.

Another common trick is through websites that advertise recruitment of labor export workers, inviting with many attractive promises such as working in developed countries, high-paying jobs, not hard work... to convince. Such tricks are not new, but still lure many people.

At the Nghe An Employment Service Center, many workers from the countryside come to receive information and advice on labor export markets. Mr. Dang Van Quyet (Nhan Son commune, Do Luong district) who is in need of labor export in Taiwan shared: "I have to travel dozens of kilometers to Vinh city to find information, because even in my hometown, many people come to hand out flyers, even come to my house to invite me to go to labor export at cheap prices, the procedures are simple, but I am afraid of being cheated."

Businesses provide job consulting and sign contracts with workers. Photo courtesy

Looking back at the records of fraud cases related to the labor export sector, it is not difficult to see the recklessness of labor export brokers. Most recently, in early 2017, Vinh City public opinion was shaken by the trial of Hoang Thi Dao (61 years old, Cua Nam Ward, Vinh City). Taking advantage of the trust of some people who wanted to send their children to work abroad in Taiwan and the Netherlands, Dao promised to send people to work abroad at low cost, and then collected the money.

After receiving the money, Dao did not send the victims to work abroad as promised but used it for personal use. The total amount of money Dao appropriated from 100 people was nearly 1.9 billion VND and then fled the area. This subject was sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud and property appropriation.

Previously, there were many cases of fraud in sending people to work abroad in the province. For example, in 2014, Yen Thanh District Police arrested Giap Van Trung (36 years old) and Ngo Thu Ly (31 years old, both living in Bac Giang Province) for fraud and property appropriation.

When arrested, these two people had defrauded 28 people in Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Tan Ky districts... with more than 2.5 billion VND. During the investigation, the police only recovered 224 million VND and 3,000 USD to return to the 2 victims.

Unhealthy competition

Currently, Nghe An province has about 50 licensed enterprises sending workers abroad. However, in addition to meeting the needs of workers, this situation has also caused many negative consequences, hindering the development of labor export.

Register for overseas labor export at Nghe An Employment Center. Photo courtesy

Mr. Dang Cao Thang - Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said that recently, there has been a situation in the area where businesses headquartered outside the province have registered for licenses but often send contract officials or intermediaries to work with the government and people, making management difficult.

“They even just send brokers to work. There are brokers who, after receiving money from people, “abandoned their children”. In these cases, it is very difficult for the management agency to assign responsibility,” Mr. Thang said. In cases where workers are lucky enough to work abroad, through these brokers, the brokerage fees are also much higher.

Currently, in some districts, many workers have deposited tens of millions of dong to brokers but have been "suspended" for many years without being able to leave. This money is mainly borrowed from banks, and cannot be recovered, many people are in dire straits.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Quang Trung - leader of a labor export company operating in Nghe An province, said that the current "chaotic" situation of labor export businesses and unstable quality makes people confused, making it difficult to choose reputable businesses, reducing workers' trust in businesses.

In reality, the demand for working abroad in some mountainous districts is not high, but there are still times when 3 or 4 businesses come to the same locality every day to recruit workers. There has been a situation where businesses spread fake news to defame each other, causing confusion and confusion for local authorities as well as workers.

Mr. Dang Cao Thang added: In the coming time, to better manage the "chaotic" situation of labor export enterprises, in addition to publicizing the list of enterprises with the function of participating in selecting and sending Nghe An workers to work abroad, the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs requests that licensed enterprises when sending employees to recruit people must introduce their full name, position, address... clearly, in order to be trustworthy, avoid cases of going through intermediaries, and limit risks for workers.

Tien Hung