Drug rehabilitation camp collapse: Can't blame it all on the working environment

On September 14, more than 300 students of the Hai Phong Social Labor Education Center (abbreviated as Gia Minh Center), located in Gia Minh Commune, Thuy Nguyen District (Hai Phong City) escaped from the camp. This is not the first time that drug rehabilitation students have escaped from this center in particular and Hai Phong City in general.

Hundreds of students "marched" to the city center on the evening of September 14.

Continuous escape

At 10 p.m. on September 14, the Hai Phong City People's Committee held a press conference to inform about the situation. The reason for the escape of more than 300 students was the simmering conflict between two groups of members of Team 6 of the center. On September 13, the two groups continued to fight. On the morning of September 14, three students from the fighting group escaped. By the afternoon of the same day, about a dozen people had incited the students in the center to leave the rehabilitation center.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Toan - Director of the Center - the reason for the students' escape is that the group of students managed according to the regulations of Decree 94 (the group of students who have been through 2 years of drug rehabilitation but have poor awareness, so they must continue to undergo 1-2 more years of drug rehabilitation) do not agree with the new regulations.

Because of harsh working environment?

In addition, the regime for drug addicts under Decree 94 is only 360 thousand VND/person/month, 90 thousand VND lower than the normal drug addict group, leading to a poorer diet.

According to some students who left, they were forced to do harsh labor, work in toxic environments, and had a miserable diet, so when provoked, they ran away.

However, Mr. Nguyen Quang Toan affirmed: Students have to work as part of the treatment, but not too hard.

Students escaping from drug rehabilitation centers in Hai Phong has happened in many centers. Specifically, similar incidents occurred at: Gia Minh Center in 2005; Labor Center No. 2 (in Dai Thang Commune, Tien Lang District, Hai Phong) in May 2010; Rehabilitation Center (Hai An District, Hai Phong) in 2012... The authorities then had to spend many months to persuade students to return to the center.

Multiple violations

At the press conference, Mr. Nguyen Quang Toan affirmed that the Center did not organize stone mining and waste burning. However, the documents we have have proven otherwise.

In November 2012, Chinfon Hai Phong Cement Company sent a dispatch to Hai Phong authorities "denouncing" Gia Minh Center's continuous illegal blasting to exploit rocks and build a petrochemical processing plant to cook waste rubber, directly affecting the company's production.

On January 31, 2013, the People's Committee of Hai Phong City sent an official dispatch to relevant departments and agencies, requesting the Hai Phong Youth Volunteer Force to direct Gia Minh Center to immediately stop illegal operations and take measures to prevent illegal mining activities...

Due to the Center's failure to comply, on March 29, 2013, the working group of the People's Committee of Thuy Nguyen district, during the inspection, discovered that there was illegal mineral exploitation in the Co Ngua mountain range on an area of ​​about 10 hectares. The Center also built and operated an unlicensed oil press from old car tires at the foot of Chin Den mountain. The minutes required the Center to stop all illegal activities.

On July 6, 2013, the People's Committee of Thuy Nguyen district continued to make a record of burning untreated leather and footwear waste in an area of ​​about 300 m². At the Center there are about 2,000 m left.³smelly shoe leather waste…

While the handling was not yet completed, on April 10, 2014, the City's inspection team had a working session at the Center and discovered that there was illegal stone mining in a large area and requested the Center to immediately stop this activity. Recently, on August 19, 2014, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Hai Phong sent an official dispatch to the City People's Committee reporting that Gia Minh Center must comply with the decision of the Department's Inspectorate on administrative violations in the field of environment. If it does not comply, it will be forced according to regulations.

By the end of September 15, 70 students had returned to the Center to continue their drug addiction treatment.

According to LDO