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Viewing cable 09HANOI1, Repatriated Vietnamese Workers Face Debt and Bureaucratic

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09HANOI1 2009-01-02 02:31 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Hanoi
VZCZCXRO8465
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #0001/01 0020231
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020231Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8964
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 5450
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0045
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000001 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV TIP KWMN KCRM VM
 
SUBJECT: Repatriated Vietnamese Workers Face Debt and Bureaucratic 
Red Tape 
 
REFS: A) 08 HANOI 0309; B) 08 HANOI 0356; C) 08 HANOI 0400; D) 08 
AMMAN 0902; E) 08 AMMAN 976; F) 08 AMMAN 1262 
 
HANOI 00000001  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  In a series of interviews conducted in November 
and December, ten Vietnamese workers repatriated from Jordan in 
March 2008 shared stories of their recruitment, treatment in Jordan, 
and the February 2008 strike that ultimately led to their return to 
Vietnam, as well as their experiences since coming home. According 
to the workers, the decision by 176 female Vietnamese garment 
workers to go on strike was prompted by inadequate wages and poor 
work conditions.  They disputed news stories reporting that rival 
groups of Vietnamese workers attacked each other, instead saying 
that security personnel employed by the W&D Apparel Company had 
beaten a number of them.  Vietnam, which has no Embassy in Jordan, 
dispatched regional representatives from the MFA and Ministry of 
Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA) to meet with the 
workers and collaborate with Jordanian officials to resolve the 
crisis.  MOLISA also requested the two Vietnamese labor recruitment 
firms to send "crisis teams" to Jordan.  In March 2008, 157 workers 
departed Jordan - 156 arrived in Hanoi, while one worker left the 
group during a flight transfer in Bangkok and remains in Bangkok 
(reftels).  Once home, the ten workers described a frustrating level 
of official indifference and attempts by the labor recruiting 
companies to compel their silence.  They did not, however, say that 
they were harassed by local officials.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) In a series of interviews in November and December 2008, 
poloffs spoke individually with 10 of the repatriated workers.  Most 
were initially hesitant about sharing their stories, noting that 
they did not know if they were "allowed" to tell what happened to 
them.  Several requested that their names not be used in recounting 
events.  Because of this, specific names are not used in the report 
below; Embassy Hanoi can provide details upon request. 
 
Labor Dispute in Jordan 
----------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) All ten of the workers interviewed said they were 
recruited by either the Footwear Joint Stock Company or the Vietnam 
Coal Joint Stock Company.  None of the workers initially intended to 
go to Jordan -- some said they were preparing for work in Taiwan -- 
but all were aware by the time of their departure at various times 
in the summer or early fall of 2008 that Jordan would, in fact, be 
their final destination.  The workers said they signed their 
contracts under pressure and without fully understanding the 
documents on the night before their departure.  The contract 
documents were then held by a representative of the recruiting 
company, making it difficult for the workers to later make a solid 
case to their employer regarding the terms and conditions of their 
employment. 
 
4.  (SBU) The workers reported that the factory in which they 
worked, the W&D Apparel Company, paid lower wages than were 
stipulated in the contract and required them to work significant 
overtime hours without compensation.  Two of the women interviewed 
said that they were paid less than half the wages received by the 
factory's Chinese workers.  The workers also described cramped and 
uncomfortable working and living conditions, with unsatisfactory 
food and a lack of water for bathing. 
 
5.  (SBU) In February, nearly all of the Vietnamese workers decided 
to go on strike.  The workers rejected the notion that there was 
violence between the workers during the strike, as was later 
reported in the Vietnamese media.  Instead, they said that that the 
violence was perpetrated by security employees of the W&D Apparel 
company in an attempt to frighten them into going back to work. 
 
6.  (SBU) After the strike began -- the workers could not precisely 
pinpoint the timing -- Vietnamese officials from the MFA and MOLISA 
arrived in Jordan and attempted to convince the workers to go back 
to work.  At least three of the interviewees noted that the 
officials refused workers' requests to intervene to get their back 
pay and pressure the employer to honor their contracts.  When it 
became clear that the striking workers would not go back to work and 
wanted to come back to Vietnam, the GVN facilitated their 
repatriation. 
 
Returning to Vietnam 
-------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU) Upon their return to Hanoi, most of the workers reported 
being able to return to their homes without incident.  Two of the 
interviewees noted that Vietnamese officials said they suspected 
some of the returning workers were "reactionaries" for taking money 
from a foreign NGO, which the government considers hostile. 
According to one worker interviewed, Vietnamese immigration officers 
 
HANOI 00000001  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
briefly held the group for questioning at the airport and then 
returned their passports and released them.  Several of the women 
interviewed reported that during the strike, the workers had in fact 
received financial help totaling around USD 6 each from an NGO, 
through an intermediary, but that they did not know anything about 
the group and were in desperate need of money. 
 
8.  (SBU) Three of the interviewees indicated that had been 
questioned by police since their return to Vietnam.  One said she 
was questioned several times, most recently in October 2008, and 
asked about her affiliation with foreign NGOs, but has never been 
fined, detained, or otherwise penalized by the police.  The second 
and third (speaking separately) reported that local police 
questioned them about their experiences in Jordan, but did not 
specifically ask about a foreign NGO.  The workers explained that 
the strike was organized to ensure that their labor contracts would 
be honored.  The two were not subsequently questioned. 
 
A Bureaucratic Run-Around 
------------------------- 
 
9.  (SBU) The workers stated that since their return, they have 
tried several avenues to pursue their claims against the recruiting 
companies and seek restitution, all without success.  Several of the 
group went to the MOLISA's Department of Overseas Labor to ask them 
for a resolution.  After two days, the Department gave each of them 
200,000 VN Dong (approximately $12 USD) and told them to go home 
while they worked to resolve their cases.  The two recruiting 
companies also contacted the workers and offered them from USD 
150-200, depending on with which company the workers had signed a 
contract, in exchange for signing a statement abrogating the 
contract.  Some took the money; most did not, at least initially, 
arguing that they were owed more than that in salary for their work. 
 The recruiting companies tried to pressure them to accept this pay 
out, stating that the workers actually owed the company in Jordan 
money for breaking the contract and leaving the country. 
 
10.  (SBU) After several months with no response from MOLISA, the 
workers sent complaint letters to the Government Inspectorate, the 
Office of the Government, and the Vietnam Women's Union asking for 
help.  One worker said that the Hanoi police also asked MOLISA to 
investigate.  In response, MOLISA Department of Overseas Labor 
requested that the recruiting companies investigate the workers' 
allegations against the employing company in Jordan.  (Note: The 
Embassy received copies of several official letters detailing the 
attempts by the workers to seek redress.  End note.)  After weeks 
without progress, many of the workers could no longer afford the 
travel, time away from their homes, and in some cases from their new 
jobs, and decided to take the money and sign the documents.  A few 
continue to hold out.  (Note: Following the interviews, we have 
received reports that the Government Inspectorate has scheduled 
interviews with several of the repatriated workers in response to 
their petition for investigation.  End note.) 
 
Family Trouble and Financial Debts 
---------------------------------- 
 
11.  (SBU) Although not subject to official harassment, the workers 
all cited significant family and financial difficulties since their 
return to Vietnam.  A number of the women stated that while the 
group was on strike, the recruiting company sent representatives to 
their home villages and told their husbands and families that they 
were lazy and were out dating men and having affairs instead of 
working.  In some cases, the husbands were told that the women were 
actually working as prostitutes.  As a result, the workers said, 
several of their husbands are very angry and at least one has filed 
for divorce.  Three of the women interviewed indicated that their 
husbands had beaten them because of the shame and financial trouble 
they brought to their families.  Though some of the women had found 
employment, all cited large debts as their greatest challenge.  One 
said she was considering going abroad again for work. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
12.  (SBU) The experiences of these workers demonstrate the issues 
Vietnam must address as it aims to ramp up export labor from 75,000 
workers going abroad in 2007 to 110,000 by 2010.  While the GVN was 
relatively quick to react to the labor dispute in Jordan and the 
recent move by the Government Inspectorate is hopeful, the GVN still 
has a long way to go in building up a legal system where all workers 
are protected and have well-understood and protected rights to 
petition.  Vietnam has cooperated effectively with the international 
community to address sex- and foreign bride-related trafficking in 
persons, but adding recruitment companies, contracts, and labor 
issues into the mix still confounds the GVN bureaucracy, 
 
HANOI 00000001  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
particularly in dealing effectively with workers upon their return. 
 
 
MICHALAK