100 laborers flee from gold mine in central Vietnam
Sunday, April 06, 2014, 13:59 GMT+7
It was a chaotic scene on Thursday when nearly 100 laborers ran to escape from alleged slave labor conditions in a gold mine located in Quang Nam central province.
They started running away since 7 a.m. on April 3 and arrived in the centre of Phuoc Son district, where the mine is located, on the evening after walking nearly one hundred kilometers.
All of the laborers are young Kho Mu ethnic people hailing from Nghe An central province’s Thanh Chuong district. They were shouting “we are free” or “go home despite poverty” while on way home.
“We did not get paid monthly. Some have been owed salaries since last year. Many have fainted because they had to work at thousands of meters below land surface without any protective equipment” – a fleeing laborer told Tuoi Tre.
“They also fed us leftovers. If we are caught fleeing, we could likely be savagely beaten by security guards in the mine” – the poor man continued to sob.
However, a spokesperson of Phuoc Minh Ltd. Company, who operates the gold mine, denied all these accusations.
He said the laborers have been induced to work for another company due to their poor awareness, adding that they “did not go on strike but willingly gave up their jobs”.
The representative also rejected that the miners were forced to work under slave labor conditions in the mine. “Four or five groups have run away from the mine since early this year. They went to downtown [Phuoc Son] district but eventually returned” – he said.
Phuoc Minh Company has been requested to make a detailed report on this case while local police are investigating the above allegations, according to Hoang Hoa, office chief of Phuoc Son People’s Committee.
If the accusations against the company are true, local authorities will inflict harsh punishment on it or even revoke its license, Hoa said.
As of April 3 night, the situation began to stabilize after the laborers and their employer reached an agreement, according to a Tuoi Tre correspondent.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
