The escape from 'hell on earth' of gold miners in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) -The reason gold mines are called "hell on earth" is because gold miners are frequently beaten, work in dangerous environments, and endure meager food and drink.…In the last two years, gold miners have repeatedly crossed forests, traveling dozens of kilometers to escape.

The most recent incident occurred on April 28th, when two young gold miners, Mong Thi Khat (16 years old) and Lo Thi Xi (15 years old), both residing in Phia Kham 2 village, Bac Ly commune, Ky Son district, Nghe An province, who were exploited for labor, trekked through the forest for six hours to reach the Nam Giang District Police Station in Quang Nam province to seek help. After taking their statements, the Quang Nam Provincial Police provided them with transportation money to return home.

Xi and Khat at the police station.

When asked why they were there, the two girls said they had been tricked by a woman into coming here with promises of "easy work and high pay." Believing her, they left their hometown and followed her to Phuoc Thanh commune, Phuoc Son district, Quang Nam province two months ago. Upon arrival, they were forced to work at a gold mine owned by Phuoc Minh Co., Ltd., headed by Mr. Ngo Van Quang.

“Here, we were forced to work to exhaustion and were frequently beaten. Unable to endure the extremely hard and exhausting labor at the gold mine, we discussed ways to escape. Taking advantage of any lapses in vigilance, we cut through the forest and fled,” Khất and Xí confessed to the Nam Giang District Police. They also revealed that there were dozens of other gold miners of the same age in the mine, also subjected to forced labor and unable to escape.

Colonel Nguyen Gioi, Head of the Phuoc Son District Police, Quang Nam Province, said that after receiving the two children, the unit handed them over to the Provincial Police for investigation. “Regarding the children's statement that there are many other child laborers in this gold mine, we have sent officers to coordinate with the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to conduct an inspection. To date, this team has not yet returned with a report. If child labor is found, it will be dealt with severely.”

Considered the gold capital of the country, the mountainous districts of Quang Nam province seem to have gold everywhere. (Photo:)Tien Hung.

Meanwhile, Colonel Nguyen The Nghiep, Head of the Criminal Police Department (PC45, Quang Nam Provincial Police), said that according to intelligence gathered, the statements of the two children were unfounded. “The two children followed their parents there, begging them to let them work. Working in the forest and mountains was indeed hard work, so they got bored and ran away from their parents to go home.”

Quang Nam province, once considered the gold capital, is not the first time gold miners have escaped from their workplaces. In early April 2014, a group of about 100 young gold miners from western Nghe An province trekked through the forest, walking for almost a day to escape from a gold mine also belonging to Phuoc Minh Co., Ltd. They were Khmu ethnic gold miners, walking over 50 km to reach Kham Duc town. Along the way, the miners shouted, "Brothers, we're free! Let's go home together if we're hungry..."

“They didn’t pay our monthly wages; some people have been owed wages since last year. We were hiding like this, and when the guards caught us, they beat us so badly that some of us ended up bedridden. We worked in the mines at depths of thousands of meters, but there were no air blowers, causing many people to faint. The food we ate was just leftover rice and scraps,” said one of the gold miners who escaped at the time.

More than a month after the chaotic escape of hundreds of gold miners in Phuoc Son district, who described their workplace as "hell on earth," four Khmu ethnic teenagers from Ky Son district (Nghe An province) also escaped from the company's gold mine. The four boys, Seo Van Vieng, Cut Van May, Cut Van Tuot, and Cut Buon Huong, all only 15-16 years old at the time, trekked through the forest on foot for four days and nights before reaching Kham Duc town.

The two boys, Cụt Văn May and Seo Văn Viềng. Photo:Tien Hung.

Viềng recounted that three months prior, she and May were introduced by a broker to work for Phước Minh company in the gold mine in Phước Thành commune. Dozens of other child laborers were on the same trip, and a few escaped because they couldn't endure the conditions. “We worked 11 hours a day, they said they would pay 2.5 million dong a month, but we had to work for six months to receive the money. Working deep underground, we were constantly sick, but they forced us to get up and go to work. Our daily meals consisted only of dried fish,” Viềng complained.

Unable to endure the harsh working conditions, at 2 AM on May 18th, while the entire camp was still asleep, the four boys escaped from the gold mine. They only reached Kham Duc town in the early morning of May 22nd. “We just kept running. We slept in the forest for two nights, but the rest of the time we kept walking. We were so hungry that we dug up cassava roots that people had planted and picked leaves from forest trees to eat to survive. Then we kept running…,” May recalled. After staying at a local's house in the town for a few days while waiting to return home, the group of four gold miners were later discovered by company personnel and escorted back to the gold mine.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha, Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuoc Son District, Quang Nam Province, said that the district cannot statistically determine the number of gold miners working there, but the majority are from Nghe An. Due to the illegal use of labor, the mine owners do not register temporary residency, so the exact number is unknown. Despite receiving complaints, functional agencies have repeatedly attempted to crack down on and inspect the use of child labor in gold mines, but without success. "Before we even get to the mine, they already know. At that point, the illegal, underage workers are hidden away. It's very difficult to control," Mr. Ha said.

Approximately 100 gold miners from Nghe An province fled in April 2014.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ngo Van Quang, Director of Phuoc Minh Gold Company, claimed that there was no beating of gold miners. “Two years ago, one of my subordinates beat a gold miner, but after that, I reprimanded them, and it hasn't happened again. The lives of gold miners here are very good; there's no exploitation whatsoever. If I did anything wrong, I'll take responsibility.” Mr. Quang added that many workers are from mountainous districts in Nghe An province, and he doesn't understand why the gold miners are running away. “If anyone asks to quit, I let them go home. They just leave whenever they want, and then someone persuades them to go work elsewhere. Besides, if you don't do a job to their satisfaction, they'll leave too.”

Regarding the cases of Khat and Xi, Mr. Quang stated that these two children "are already 19 or 20 years old, not born in 2000."

The escapes from the "hell on earth" of gold miners in Nghe An province reveal that the management of illegal gold mining in this province has become a "chronic disease," leaving behind numerous shortcomings and inadequacies such as environmental pollution, public outrage, and negative impacts on the tourism landscape.

Hung Nguyen