Police in the north-central Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh have fined 303 Chinese workers VND15 million (US$705) each for working without permits at a local economic zone, said the deputy chief police of the province.  

>> Contractors ask to recruit thousands of unskilled Chinese workers for Vietnam project

The fined workers belong to the 19th China Metallurgical Construction Group (19 MCC Group) and are working at the Vung Ang Economic Zone in the province’s Ky Anh District, said Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thanh Liem, deputy director of the provincial police department.

They have violated Governmental Decree 167/2013 that stipulates that foreigners who enter Vietnam to work must obtain a work permit from relevant Vietnamese authorities, the official said.

The violators have paid their fines fully, amounting to VND4.5 billion ($211,500) in total, and they have been required to register at the Immigration Department under the guarantee of the 19 MCC Group so that they can stay and work temporarily while waiting to apply for work permits. Provincial police often patrol in the economic zone to detect illegal foreign workers, the official said. “On almost every patrol, police found five to seven foreign workers without necessary papers. The phenomenon has gotten worse since mid-October, so we have to fine them strictly,” Liem said. By the end of September, the total number of foreign workers in the Vung Ang Economic Zone was 5,321, including 3,680 Chinese nationals, according to a report by the Ha Tinh Economic Zone Management Board. Of these foreign workers, only 2,340, including 800 Chinese citizens, have been granted work permits, which means nearly 3,000 people are working illegally in the zone. In early October, the board said it was coordinating with the management of the Formosa, a large construction project in the zone, to issue name cards to workers to control their entry in and out of the construction sites there.

Foreign workers that are granted work permits will be given a name card, the board said.

It also emphasized that foreign workers without work permits will be expelled.

“Workers meeting the required procedures will be granted a work permit, which will be valid for 6 months or 1 year, depending on the type of worker,” the board said.

Nguyen Thi Hai Van, director of Employment Department under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, noted that under a governmental decree, all foreign workers must obtain work permits before they come to Vietnam to work.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!