For many people living in poverty, working overseas is one of the fastest ways to get a better life, particularly in rural areas. Fortune, however, does not always smile on laborers after many years working in a strange land. Misled about a prospect of “high income, quick procedure” by fraudsters, a large number of families have found themselves up to their ears in debts and even lost their members.
A long record of labor export scam
After keeping a low profile for a while, labor export scam has recently surfaced. Authorities, meanwhile, are trying to puzzle out an effective solution for dealing with perpetrators, either organizations or individuals. Not long ago, an illegal immigration network led by Nguyen Thi Thuy (also known as Ut Nhi) was broken up, but it was just one among others still under cover of darkness.
Fraudulent labor export networks, especially in Eastern Europe, have been long existing due to both labor demands and the corruption of local authorities. In terms of scale, Thi Ut’s network is no match for the one run by Tran Ngoc Thanh - an overseas Vietnamese in Poland – who once defrauded hundreds of laborers of $6,500 – $10,000 per person for an overseas job. Nonetheless, they have one thing in common that they are willing to use cunning to make money from the ignorance of laborers.
Knowing of people’s aspiration to get rid of poverty in no time, fraudulent networks often promise them jobs of high salary and full insurance in Western countries. But those who put their trust in such networks soon have their dreams shattered. On their arrival in Eastern Europe, they are left without any personal document and have to stay alert to police checks all the time. A number of people have lost their lives in attempts to escape in the freezing weather of Eastern Europe.
Duy V.V from Hung Yen province, a victim of the network run by Tran Ngoc Thanh, said: “At first, I was a worker in Malaysia. After my company went out of business, Thanh promised to take us to Eastern Europe (Poland) to work with a salary twice as much as that in Malaysia. So we borrowed money from our friends and gave it to Thanh. Not until we came to Poland did we realize that it was all a fraud. Without any legal paper, we had to hide and live under bridges or in slums. It took a while until we could contact our families and get enough money for flight tickets to return to Vietnam”.
Trickery
Thanh’s networks made use of different sophisticated tricks to circumvent the control of the authorities of Vietnam as well as of the host country. They set up classes in the name of “law dissemination”, provided training on strike and labor union in countries such as Russia, Malaysia, etc. But they secretly incited these laborers to break contracts with their employers, thereby rendering laborers unemployed before Thanh showed up as a savior. However, truth will out and the cunning nature of Thanh will sooner or later be unmasked by his own victims.
Vinh T.T (another victim from Huong Son, Ha Tinh province) revealed: “When I was working in Malaysia, a man called Thanh came by our place and gave lectures on strike and protest. He also promised that he would arrange our working in Europe if we quit our jobs”. Their belief in Thanh’s words led them to fake fights and sabotage manufacturing facilities in order to get fired. Thanh helped them enter Europe on tourist visas, but as soon as they set foot on the “dreamland”, they were abandoned and usually ended up in prisons, being expelled or forced to become thieves or pickpockets.
Working overseas with a view to getting rid of poverty is a legitimate aspiration. Vietnam has so far implemented a variety of policies to spur labor export, yet the number of victims of scams in this field is on the rise. Is it worth running the risk of being defrauded by such networks while laborers can choose a legal way to work overseas under full protection of authorities?
A long record of labor export scam
After keeping a low profile for a while, labor export scam has recently surfaced. Authorities, meanwhile, are trying to puzzle out an effective solution for dealing with perpetrators, either organizations or individuals. Not long ago, an illegal immigration network led by Nguyen Thi Thuy (also known as Ut Nhi) was broken up, but it was just one among others still under cover of darkness.
Fraudulent labor export networks, especially in Eastern Europe, have been long existing due to both labor demands and the corruption of local authorities. In terms of scale, Thi Ut’s network is no match for the one run by Tran Ngoc Thanh - an overseas Vietnamese in Poland – who once defrauded hundreds of laborers of $6,500 – $10,000 per person for an overseas job. Nonetheless, they have one thing in common that they are willing to use cunning to make money from the ignorance of laborers.
Knowing of people’s aspiration to get rid of poverty in no time, fraudulent networks often promise them jobs of high salary and full insurance in Western countries. But those who put their trust in such networks soon have their dreams shattered. On their arrival in Eastern Europe, they are left without any personal document and have to stay alert to police checks all the time. A number of people have lost their lives in attempts to escape in the freezing weather of Eastern Europe.
Duy V.V from Hung Yen province, a victim of the network run by Tran Ngoc Thanh, said: “At first, I was a worker in Malaysia. After my company went out of business, Thanh promised to take us to Eastern Europe (Poland) to work with a salary twice as much as that in Malaysia. So we borrowed money from our friends and gave it to Thanh. Not until we came to Poland did we realize that it was all a fraud. Without any legal paper, we had to hide and live under bridges or in slums. It took a while until we could contact our families and get enough money for flight tickets to return to Vietnam”.
Trickery
Thanh’s networks made use of different sophisticated tricks to circumvent the control of the authorities of Vietnam as well as of the host country. They set up classes in the name of “law dissemination”, provided training on strike and labor union in countries such as Russia, Malaysia, etc. But they secretly incited these laborers to break contracts with their employers, thereby rendering laborers unemployed before Thanh showed up as a savior. However, truth will out and the cunning nature of Thanh will sooner or later be unmasked by his own victims.
Vinh T.T (another victim from Huong Son, Ha Tinh province) revealed: “When I was working in Malaysia, a man called Thanh came by our place and gave lectures on strike and protest. He also promised that he would arrange our working in Europe if we quit our jobs”. Their belief in Thanh’s words led them to fake fights and sabotage manufacturing facilities in order to get fired. Thanh helped them enter Europe on tourist visas, but as soon as they set foot on the “dreamland”, they were abandoned and usually ended up in prisons, being expelled or forced to become thieves or pickpockets.
Working overseas with a view to getting rid of poverty is a legitimate aspiration. Vietnam has so far implemented a variety of policies to spur labor export, yet the number of victims of scams in this field is on the rise. Is it worth running the risk of being defrauded by such networks while laborers can choose a legal way to work overseas under full protection of authorities?
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