Luring Job Seekers to Vietnam: Rab identifies 6 recruiting agencies
All 11 recent Vietnam returnees to Bangladesh, who were trafficked by some unscrupulous recruiting agencies with a promise of attractive jobs, had permit cards from the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) which showed them as entrepreneurs.
Once taken to Vietnam on DN (Doanh Nghiep -- Business) visa, Bangladeshi brokers there seized their passports. Instead of any permanent job contract, they were offered menial jobs for short periods. Some didn't even get any.
Frustration gripped the job seekers as they soon found out that all their invested money was gone.
A job seeker died there and as buried without any help from the recruiting agency.
The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) came up with this information after arresting three directors of two recruiting agencies from the capital's Paltan area on Wednesday. The arrestees are -- Jamal Uddin alias Sohag (34), Kamal Hossain (39) and Jamal Hossain (37).
Rab also seized 254 passports from these two agencies, Lt Col Rakibul Hasan, commanding officer (CO) of Rab-3, told a press briefing yesterday, held at Rab media centre in Karwan Bazar.
Rab identified six such recruiting agencies in Dhaka, who were involved in illegally sending people to Vietnam.
Those are -- Mash Career Service, JK Overseas Limited, Advent Overseas Limited, Sandhani Overseas Limited, and Al Noman Human Resource Limited.
After interrogation, Rab got names of eight Bangladeshi brokers in Vietnam, who are involved in such illegal activities. They are -- Abdul Jabbar, Mostafa, Golam Azam Sumon, Kalpana, Azmeer, Milon, Shovon and Atik.
Eleven Bangladeshi job seekers returned from Vietnam on July 3. Meanwhile, 27 more are still passing days in uncertainty, Rab said.
In primary interrogation, the arrestees told Rab that the Bangladeshi brokers informed them there is opportunity to work in Vietnam as entrepreneurs.
They charged Tk 4-5 lakh from a job seeker and promised jobs with monthly salary of Tk 40,000-50,000 working in different companies, especially in mobile phone sector. Once agreed, they managed "offer letters" from Bangladeshi brokers in Vietnam.
DN visa is issued to foreigners who come to work with companies in Vietnam. The duration of DN visa is no longer than 12 months. Rab said the job seekers need to have USD 2,000 on them to enter Vietnam with such visa.
"Nine out of 11 Vietnam returnees managed the BMET smart cards as entrepreneurs. There was no information about two other cards in BMET registration," the Rab CO said, adding that they are looking into the matter.
The Rab official said Bangladeshi brokers seized the job seekers' passports at the airport in Vietnam.
He said JK Overseas Limited sent 14 job seekers with DN visa to Vietnam in November last year, who are yet to get any jobs.
Nazmul Hasan (26), of Cumilla, died in Vietnam on April 3 without any treatment. JK Overseas declined to provide any help to his relatives in Bangladesh. Finally, the job seeker was buried at a Muslim colony in Ho Chi Minh City on June 27, Rab said.
Besides, Mash Career Service did not have any recruiting license, he added.
Contacted, BMET Director General Shamsul Alam said they called the owners of six recruiting agencies and told them that they must bear the expenses of the returnees and give compensation if the contracts get violated.
He said they have cancelled their licenses and also confiscated their security money.
In a press release on Monday, the foreign ministry said Vietnam is not a country where much work opportunities are available for prospective foreign workers. Brokers traffic Bangladeshi workers there with an aim to land them in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and other parts of South-east Asia.
The BMET DG said Bangladesh does not have any MoU with Vietnam in this regard; however, sending people to Vietnam is nothing new. At least 1,275 people had gone there in such a way since 2007.
Asked about the BMET card, he said, "You should ask the returnees why they went to Vietnam in DN visa and what were the promises made in the contract papers. If they went for jobs, why did they take BMET card as entrepreneurs?"
"We gave them the cards as per their contract papers," he added.
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