Vietnam actively deploys citizen protection work in Saudi Arabia and Serbia

In response to a reporter’s question over a recent report stated that a number of Vietnamese women and girls suffered from violence and harassment from their employers, after being recruited to Saudi Arabia for work, Hang affirmed that Vietnam always gives priority to promoting gender equality, narrowing the gender gap and creating equal opportunities for women and men to participate in and benefit from all aspects of social life, contributing to the sustainable development of the country.

She said the MOFA has instructed Vietnamese representative missions abroad to keep in close contact with local authorities and companies in charge of managing and employing Vietnamese labour. They also encourage the local Vietnamese community to help facilitate favourable conditions for Vietnamese citizens working and residing in other countries.

Vietnam’s representative agencies always stand ready to implement citizen protection measures and other measures to ensure the lawful rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens, particularly female labourers and girls in necessary cases, she said.

According to the spokeswoman, over the past years, the MOFA and the Vietnamese Embassy in Saudi Arabia have received certain comments on the situation of Vietnamese labourers in this country.

Immediately upon receiving such information and the instruction of the MOFA, the Vietnamese Embassy in Saudi Arabia has got in touch with local authorities, checked the information and requested investigations and strict punishments for incidents in line with the law, Hang said.

The Vietnamese Embassy and labour management board in Saudi Arabia have also been working with companies in charge of deploying workers to seek suitable solutions to address conflicts with employees and protect the safety and rights of Vietnamese citizens abroad, she said.

Hang further asserted that Vietnam had enacted measures to protect female workers, prevent violence and harassment at work and stop the use of child labour through the issuance and adoption of relevant laws and policies such as the 2012 Labour Code and the 2016 Law on Children.

Vietnam has become party to 25 conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), including seven out of eight fundamental conventions that encompass prevention of discrimination, child labour and forced labour. Vietnam is the first country in Asia and the second in the world to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, she said.

Amid complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MOFA and the Vietnamese Embassy in Saudi Arabia have been making every effort to overcome challenges and cooperate with local authorities and airlines to run repatriation flights. Nearly 800 Vietnamese citizens have so far been returned home. 

Regarding information about Vietnamese workers in Serbia being beaten and assaulted,  Hang said: “We have just contacted the Vietnamese Embassy in Romania, concurrently in Serbia, and learned that the embassy had received information from several Serbian press agencies.” 

It is working to verify the information, firstly via contacting the workers in Serbia, labour export companies, and relevant local authorities, she added.

Initial information from the embassy showed that no Vietnamese workers were assaulted or beaten. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed the embassy to continue to grasp the situation and contact local competent agencies to verify the information and take measures to protect the rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens and workers in Serbia, thereby ensuring their safety.

Vietnamese authorities will continue to work closely with foreign counterparts to organise more repatriation flights, in line with citizens’ aspirations and take into account the evolution of the pandemic globally, as well as domestic quarantine capacity, she said.