Implementing the project to support poor districts to export labor according to Decision 71/CP: Part 1: Still "far" from the target

(Baonghean) - On April 29, 2009, the Prime Minister issued Decision 71/2009/QD-TTG approving the Project to support poor districts to promote labor export (XKLĐ) to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction in the period 2009 - 2020. Implementing the project, over the past 5 years, the poor districts of the province, Que Phong, Tuong Duong and Ky Son, despite many efforts, the number of exported workers is still far from the set target.

It can be said that the Project to support poor districts to promote labor export to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction in the period 2009 - 2020 is an opportunity for people from 61 poor districts under Resolution 30a of the Government to work abroad to enjoy the loan support policy through the Bank for Social Policies. According to the project's goal, each poor district will send 100 ethnic minority people from poor families to work abroad each year.

Such a practical decision, however, after 5 years of implementation in 3 poor districts of the province, Que Phong, Tuong Duong and Ky Son, it has not brought about positive results. According to the survey report of the Provincial People's Council, from 2009 to now, the 3 poor districts mentioned above have only had 493 people going to work abroad under Decision 71/CP. Of which, Que Phong has 351 people, Tuong Duong 69 people, Ky Son 119 people (most of whom went under Decision 71/CP). Thus, in general, all 3 districts have only achieved 33% of the project's target.

Distributing propaganda documents on labor export according to Decision 71/CP in Que Phong district.

What is the reason why the number of children going to work abroad under Decision 71/CP in the 3 poor districts of the province is low? First of all, it must be affirmed that the quality of labor of children in poor districts is low in terms of cultural level, skills, foreign languages, sense of discipline; reluctance to study, poor health and the mentality of not wanting to leave their hometown, brothers and relatives. Most of the children who reach adulthood in remote areas of poor districts have just finished secondary school, have not been trained in skills, are familiar with backward production practices, and are arbitrary in work. Meanwhile, the requirement for employers abroad is to have skills and strictly follow labor discipline. Especially with the labor market in Korea and Japan, those factors require even higher requirements.

Through consultation and labor recruitment sessions, it is shown that the rate of young people who do not meet health requirements due to social diseases is high: syphilis, drug addiction, hepatitis B... According to our research in 3 districts, it is known that the rate of workers who are not healthy enough in the preliminary round is about 35%, the rate of workers who are not healthy enough in the official round to go to work abroad is 15%. This has caused difficulties in consulting and sending workers abroad for businesses, leading to a gradual decrease in the number of businesses participating in the labor export program under Decision 71/CP in the area, or not being active in mobilizing with the locality to implement.

On the other hand, the labor export market is mainly Malaysia, Middle Eastern countries, low income, not attractive to workers. Ms. Moong Thi Duyen in Binh Son 1 village, Ta Ca commune (Ky Son), said that she went to Malaysia to work since 2011, working as a worker at a seafood processing company, the daily work is hard, but each month she only receives a salary of 5 - 6 million VND. Meanwhile, Mr. Moong Van Khuyen (born in 1991) said: "I did not go to Malaysia to work because I was afraid of learning the language, learning a trade, and was not familiar with the working environment in a company. Moreover, many people in the village have gone to Malaysia but the results were not high, they did not bring much money back to their families...".

Many children who go abroad, are not familiar with the strict working regulations of the company, sneak out to work illegally, or after the contract expires, do not return home, but stay to work freely in the host country. Mr. Cut Van The - Acting Chairman of the People's Committee of Pha Danh commune, Ky Son district, said: In the 4 villages of Huoi Nhung, Pha Khao, Pha Khom and Kim Da, there have been 17 people who went to Malaysia to work. Mr. The does not know if any of them were allowed to go abroad to work under Decision 71/CP, but according to him, most of the children who have gone and are going to Malaysia to work do not bring economic efficiency to the family. There are cases where they do not comply with the awareness, organization and discipline of the company, or the company does not have regular work, they sneak out to work illegally; there have been cases of returning "empty-handed" after 2 - 3 years of working abroad.

Mr. Kha Dinh Phe, Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Tuong Duong district, said: The reason why the locality has few people going to work abroad under Decision 71/CP is because the income of workers in Malaysia is low. The procedure for borrowing money from the bank is difficult because many labor export consulting companies do not follow the program of Decision 71/CP, while their children want to go under this project of the Government. Besides, there are companies implementing the policy of Decision 71/CP, but when doing the disbursement procedures, that unit does not have a letter of introduction from the Department of Overseas Labor Management, so the bank cannot disburse the capital, the workers cannot leave the country; currently there are still 9 people in Luong Minh and Tam Quang communes (Tuong Duong) going under the contract of Vinh Cat Investment Joint Stock Company, who have not been able to leave the country for the above reason. Mr. Kha Dinh Phe added: Because the income from working abroad in Malaysia is low, while workers in this mountainous area are not familiar with the working style in companies, many young people now go to Laos, China, or to big cities, looking for jobs as manual laborers... In Ky Son District, according to Ms. Xa Thi Xi - Secretary of the District Youth Union, many union members and young people are not interested in working abroad in Malaysia, because of the low income, and have to find jobs themselves; for example, currently there are nearly 100 union members and young people in Huu Kiem and Muong Ai communes who go to work far away without a clear address.

There are many cases where after completing all the procedures for labor export contracts, on the departure date, they leave without any reason. This situation is most common in Que Phong district. According to Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien, the person in charge of labor export of SimCo Song Da Joint Stock Company, located in Block 2, Kim Son Town (Que Phong), said: Although every year, a large number of young workers register to go abroad for labor export under Decision 71/CP, the rate of being able to go is very low, the reason is due to poor health or abandoning their wishes. For example, from January 2014 to May 2015, 176 people applied for labor export through SimCo Song Da Joint Stock Company, but only 80 people left the country, the remaining 57 people did not meet the health standards, and 39 people left halfway. In many cases, on the departure date, they did not show up to complete the procedures, contacted their families, and received the answer "no more going". In such cases, the people have to suffer the loss, which is to take on the bank debt. From that reality, SimCo Song Da Joint Stock Company has encountered many obstacles in the process of consulting and recruiting workers to work abroad according to Decision 71/CP.

The above reality shows that implementing the labor export work according to Decision 71/CP faces many difficulties for poor districts. However, it is difficult but not impossible and it is a task that needs to be done well, so in the next stage, relevant levels and sectors in poor districts need to have a new mindset, more importantly, change the way of propaganda, guide the young generation to a path to find stable jobs, so that labor export is truly a sustainable poverty reduction channel for each locality...

(To be continued)

Xuan Hoang