VietNamNet Bridge – The Criminal Police Department (C45) has prosecuted a criminal case related to over 100 Vietnamese workers who claimed to be over-exploited in Russia, according to Thanh Nien.
    

According to investigators, these people worked for two garment companies - Vinastar and Garizon Open - in Moscow. Specifically, Vinastar recruited more than 100

workers from Vietnam, including 45 from the Construction and Investment JSC No. 1 (HICC1) and a labor export firm in Thai Binh Province.

On September 25, a representative of the Overseas Labor Management Agency, said that the agency had actively cooperated with the police during the investigation

procedures. Previously, in late April, the agency asked manpower export companies to not send garment workers to Russia. However, some companies illegally sent workers to Russia in May.

These companies did not obey the law. In Russia, Vietnamese workers signed employment contracts that were different from the ones they signed in Vietnam.

"A lot of unskilled workers were still recruited. Some garment workers only practiced with industrial sewing machines one month before they went to Russia. That is why

workers had to work for 14-15 hours per day. The employers also broke the law because they seized personal papers of and confided workers in the workshop area," this official said.

Of the 148 workers of the two garment enterprises in Moscow who went on strike, over 60 people have moved to other enterprises and the rest were repatriated.

The Overseas Labor Management Agency confirmed that violators will be severely penalized.

When she was informed of the investigation, Ms. Nguyen Duy Thanh Nhan (from HCM City), the first who denounced the fraud and labor exploitation of the Vietnamese

broker and the Russian employer, said: "We are so happy. Before going to Russia, we had to borrow money from banks, relatives or friends. Our greatest desire now is to

find stable jobs to earn enough to support our families and to pay debt. We hope that the authorities will quickly bring to justice those who violated the law and force

brokerage firms to compensate for the loss that we suffered, to refund the deposit that we gave them before going to Russia and the employer to pay wages."

According to Nhan, today September 26, the last five garment workers would return home. These people were detained and their families had to pay $500 for "ransom".

M. Lan