Last group of 18 workers abused in Algeria return home

After days of waiting in a tense and tired mood, the last group of 18 workers out of 49 workers sent by Simco Song Da Joint Stock Company to Algeria to work related to the incident of being assaulted and starved by a Chinese contractor, left Algeria to return home on the afternoon of November 25.

This group of 18 people was supposed to return home on November 20, but due to problems with Simco Song Da Company in booking tickets, the trip had to be postponed until November 25.

This group of workers returned to Vietnam on the Alger-Doha-Bangkok-Hanoi route, departing from Alger at 3:30 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. Hanoi time) on November 25 on flight QR-1380 and is expected to arrive at Noi Bai airport at 2:40 p.m. on November 26 on flight QR-834.

Previously, on November 20, a second group of 18 people also returned home on the same route.

Thus, all 49 workers of Simco Song Da Company who were mistreated by the Chinese contractor, Dong Nhat Giang Su Company Limited, at the construction site in Kenchela province, 450km south of the capital Alger, have returned home. For the 7 workers who wish to stay and continue working, a contract appendix with new wage rates has been signed.

To bring the 49 workers back to Vietnam as desired, Simco Song Da Company had to transfer compensation at a fee of 1,700 USD/person to the Chinese partner, with a total amount of more than 80,000 USD. This is the amount that the Chinese employer forced each Vietnamese worker to pay in compensation for early termination of the contract.

Simco Song Da Company will advance this amount to pay the workers, plus the cost of buying air tickets of about 600 - 650 USD/person for workers who wish to return home.

18 workers returned home on November 25. (Photo: Thanh Binh/Vietnam+)

Dau Hoang Anh in Chi Linh district, Hai Duong province, one of the two workers assaulted by the Chinese contractor and also the person Simco Song Da sent to manage the above workers, said that everyone was happy to be reunited with their families, but was very sad because they could not protect the rights of their brothers.

Hoang Anh said: "I have been exported to 7 countries, but I have never been treated as badly by my employer as this time. After what happened, I just want to reunite with my family."

Hoang Anh expressed his hope that Simco Song Da Company would support his brothers to return home and find other orders so that they could have the opportunity to work to improve their family's economy, because many people's circumstances are also very difficult.

Mr. Vu Dang, from Me Linh, Hanoi, confided: his family is near-poor. This is the first time he has gone abroad to work. "When I left, I had to pay the company a total of 47.7 million VND. My family had to borrow 40 million VND. After the incident where two workers were assaulted, I still had the idea of ​​staying to continue working to earn money to help my family pay off the debt. But the Chinese boss treated us too badly, not giving us food and threatening to beat us, so we were so scared that we had to go back."

Mr. Dang said that every day his wife and three children at home contacted him and told him to come home because as long as there are people, there is property. Mr. Dang affirmed that the workers were not wrong because the contract stated that they were working by the day. When there was a disagreement, the employer did not negotiate specifically about the level of pay and also starved and beat the workers.

Nguyen Van Duc in Ung Hoa district, Hanoi said that out of the total 48 million VND paid to the company, his family had to borrow 20 million VND and expressed his joy at being able to return home but did not know how to repay the loan.

Previously, on October 5, Vietnamese workers in Algeria called for help because they were beaten by their employer, Dong Nhat Jiangsu Company (China). They were 55 Vietnamese workers sent by Simco Song Da Company to this North African country to work for the above-mentioned Chinese contractor at a construction site in Khenchela province, more than 460km east of the capital Alger.

According to Vietnamese workers, the labor contracts they signed were for daily wages paid monthly, but when they arrived here, their Chinese employers forced them to switch to piecework.

The Vietnamese workers disagreed and protested, leading to them being assaulted by the Chinese contractor on the evening of September 16, injuring two workers, Dau Hoang Anh and Dao Ngoc Cuong./.

According to VIETNAM+