Continue to have sanctions against illegal workers residing in Korea

Attending the conference were Mr. Nguyen Gia Liem - Deputy Director of the Department of Overseas Labor Management, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; representatives of the Overseas Labor Center and the Overseas Employment Support Fund.

Comrade Doan Hong Vu - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; relevant departments and agencies and a large number of workers who have returned home, and relatives of workers working in Korea.

Delegates attending the conference. Photo: Thanh Nga

At the conference, the representative of the managing unit - Mr. Dang Cao Thang - Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: In recent years, the number of Nghe An workers going to work in Korea under the EPS program has increased. Up to now, the number of workers going abroad under the EPS program is 9,396 workers, leading the country in the number of people going to work in Korea, with an average of 500 - 700 people per year.

However, Mr. Thang emphasized that currently, many workers in Korea change jobs and do not return home on time according to their contracts, so the number of illegal workers residing in Korea in Nghe An is almost the highest in the country.

As of the end of July 2018, the rate of illegal workers not returning home in the province was at 43.18%, up to 2,310 people. Therefore, in 2018, Nghe An had 10 urban districts where workers were not allowed to work in Korea.

The ideal conditions and salaries in Korea have made many expired workers stay and work. Photo: Internet

Although the departments and localities have implemented many solutions, the situation is still not very positive. Typically, localities that were previously at a high level are now still at the top of the list because the number of illegal workers has almost not changed, such as Nghi Loc with 369 people; Vinh City: 249 people; Cua Lo Town: 243 people.

That is because the propaganda work to mobilize illegal workers and residents in Korea by districts, towns and cities is not drastic, not regular and continuous, leading to low efficiency.

“It is true that the propaganda work is not really good, because although we have organized the signing of commitments, the workers who have gone still do not return because the income gap between domestic and foreign countries is too great” – Mr. Nguyen Xuan Lam – Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vinh City expressed his opinion. Mr. Lam suggested that the deposit should be strictly implemented, and at the same time, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs should provide a list so that local authorities know the return date of the workers, from there, propagandize so that relatives can urge the workers to return on time.

Vice Chairman of Quynh Luu District People's Committee - Ho Ngoc Dung said that one of the decisive solutions is that the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs needs to propose that the Korean side strictly handle the number of Korean enterprises employing illegal Vietnamese workers; all the solutions we are implementing will be ineffective if the Korean side continues to employ expired workers.

Workers who returned home on time have many questions about policies and preferential mechanisms for workers who fulfill their commitments. Photo: Thanh Nga

At the conference, representatives of organizations, workers' families, and workers who had returned home on time expressed many concerns about why overdue workers had not returned home. Most opinions were that if a worker returned home on time, the opportunity to continue working would still be very rare and would inadvertently make workers who were still residing illegally in Korea not want to return. Therefore, the dissemination of policies and mechanisms for workers returning home on time needs to be better implemented.

Mr. Doan Hong Vu - Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs spoke at the conference. Photo: Thanh Nga

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Doan Hong Vu - Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: "Thanks to the efforts in implementing synchronous solutions, Tan Ky has been removed from the list of localities that have been temporarily suspended, so we cannot just resolutely implement one solution but we must combine many solutions, propaganda and mobilization at the grassroots level is very important, because in reality, Nghe people are very self-respecting and have a very high sense of community. In the immediate future, localities need to focus on propaganda for the 99 workers who are due to return home this year in the last 4 months of 2018."

Comrade Nguyen Gia Liem - Deputy Director of the Department of Overseas Labor Management - Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: "The province needs to organize a seminar to sign a commitment of responsibility between 3 parties including the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the People's Committee of the commune and the representative of the worker's family; implement the posting of the list of illegal workers and notify the rights of workers returning home on time and the sanctions for illegal workers. It is necessary to establish inter-family groups right in the village, the inter-family groups themselves need to have a separate commitment so that the predecessors must be responsible for fulfilling the commitment on time so that the successors have the conditions to continue."

At the conference, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs noted the opinions of relatives and workers on the recruitment exam to Korea for workers who have returned home on time and will propose to competent authorities to create the best conditions for these workers. In addition, there will continue to be mechanisms and sanctions to punish workers who are residing illegally.