Illegal labor export to Angola - Unpredictable dangers

Unnatural deaths

In a small house still filled with the scent of incense in hamlet 5, Hung My commune, Hung Nguyen district, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao lit incense on her husband's altar and told the story of her husband's labor export and sudden death - Mr. Chu Van Toan. Ms. Thao is from Ky Anh district (Ha Tinh), married Mr. Toan for nearly 4 years. At the end of 2011, when their first son was nearly 3 years old, the economy was difficult, and there was a lack of work, so Mr. Toan borrowed money, went to Angola as a tourist and stayed to work as a construction worker.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao was absent-mindedly sitting next to her mother-in-law in the house in Hung My commune.

After nearly a year in Africa, but the salary was not as expected, the job was unstable, the climate was harsh, so Toan decided to return home. “That day was November 17, 2012, my husband planned to make a meal to say goodbye to his friends before returning home. In the afternoon, when everyone came to the rented room as planned, they found my husband shot dead in the corner of the bed, no one understood the reason why,” Thao said absentmindedly. Toan's sudden death left his young wife and everyone in the family shocked and devastated.

In the same commune as Ms. Thao, for more than 2 months now, Ms. Bui Thi Thu has also been fainting repeatedly because her son Le Van Tuan was shot dead in Angola in January 2012.

Three years ago, Mr. Tuan went to Angola as a tourist to work as a construction worker. During the recent Tet holiday, Mr. Tuan returned to visit his family and returned to Angola for three days before being shot dead. It took more than 20 days for Mrs. Thu's family to receive her son's body by air. Mr. Tuan is 27 years old, unmarried and has not had children. Before returning, he promised his mother that he would arrange to get married. Since receiving the bad news about his son, Mrs. Thu has been in pain. While relatives of families with members working abroad in Angola are worried about the fate of their loved ones in remote and harsh Africa, in recent days, they have received one bad news after another.

On April 14, relatives of Ho Canh Son (45 years old) in Quynh Luong commune, Quynh Luu district received the news that he suddenly died at the hospital due to severe malaria. 3 months ago, Son was sent to work illegally as a tourist by a network. Before he could send money home to pay off his debt, he met with an accident.

Phan Van Son's relatives were in great pain at his sudden death in a foreign land.

Two days earlier, in Phuc Long hamlet, Hung Tay commune, Hung Nguyen, 70-year-old Nguyen Thi Kinh fainted when she received news that her son Phan Van Son (37 years old) had died after a period of treatment for severe malaria. Son went to work as a construction worker in Angola at the end of 2011 with a cost of nearly 140 million VND. The initial promised salary was about 1000 USD/month, but when he arrived, the salary was lower and he did not dare to complain to anyone. After more than a year of working but not sending enough money back to pay off his debt, he had an accident.

Previously, on April 5, the bodies of Nguyen Duc Cao (26 years old) in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh city and Nguyen Cong Nguyen (29 years old) in Tan Dien block, Nghi Hoa ward, Cua Lo town were also brought back to the country on the same flight.

Warning about illegal labor export

In recent years, when the labor export market to Korea was frozen for various reasons, the Malaysian market had unstable income, the Middle Eastern, Arab, and Libyan countries had many political fluctuations, many workers from Nghe An went to Angola as a hope to escape poverty and change their lives. The advantage of the Angolan market is that it is easy to go, workers do not need to learn a trade or learn the language but are sent there by invitation to visit relatives, follow the tourist route and then go to work. The laws of the host country still have many loopholes to control immigrants who then immigrate illegally.

According to our research, the cost for one person to go to Angola ranges from 5000-6000 USD. Vietnamese workers who go to this African country mainly do heavy work such as construction, construction workers, and factory workers. The salary can be up to 1200 USD/month but is very unstable.

With the reason that it is easy to go, and they want to escape poverty, change their lives and seek luck through labor export, many young people and farmers in the districts of Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, Cua Lo, etc. have borrowed money and asked people to take them to Angola for labor export. All of these forms of going are illegal, through tourism and visiting relatives. Workers only need to borrow money and pay the brokers and wait for the day to fly to Africa.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Duong, Head of the Department of Labor - Employment - Wages - Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An province, affirmed that Vietnam has not yet signed any labor cooperation program with Angola. Organizations, individuals and companies sending workers to work in this African country are all illegal, illegal labor, expensive costs, if risks occur, the workers will suffer, not enjoy any benefits, nor be protected by the law and authorities. In fact, the cases of Nghe An workers who were shot and died of malaria in Angola recently did not receive any benefits. Bringing the body back to the country is very expensive, it can cost up to 500 million VND.

Mr. Duong said that, in response to the situation of Nghe An workers illegally going to Angola for work, on January 30, 2013, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An issued Official Letter No. 176 to all districts, cities and some other grassroots units. In addition to affirming that in Vietnam there is no unit licensed to export labor to the Angolan market, the Official Letter also requested districts, cities and towns in Nghe An to propagate to the people about the illegality of going to Angola for work and the potential risks.

The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs also requested the districts to check and review, if any organizations or individuals are found to be sending workers to Angola, they must immediately report to the authorities for handling. Recently, on April 8, 2013, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An continued to issue a document requesting communes, wards and towns across the province to compile and report the list of workers going to work in Angola, and at the same time strengthen propaganda measures so that people understand that illegal labor export, not only in Angola but in any market, is full of risks. Workers will suffer and will not be protected if an incident occurs.

For many years, the path of labor export has been the salvation of poor people in the villages of Nghe An. Most of these people do not have high skills and qualifications, and have little access to information and legal policies of the authorities, leading to the consequences of losing money and suffering. The recent heartbreaking deaths continue to be a warning to people who dream of changing their lives through illegal labor export.

Nguyen Khoa