First Vietnamese workers in Algeria returned home on November 15 (Source: VNA)Algiers (VNA) – The first 13 out of 49 Vietnamese workers in Algeria who wished to return home after a dispute with their Chinese employer flew home on November 15.
The repatriation of the workers was made under an agreement signed on November 1 between Simco Song Da, the company that sent the workers to Algeria, and the Chinese employer in Algeria, Dongyi Jiangsu Co. Ltd.
The workers boarded their flight to Hanoi on November 15 and are expected to arrive at the Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport at 6:05 p.m. on November 16.
Half the remaining workers will return on November 18 and the other half on November 20.
Dongyi Jiangsu Co. Ltd said it has completed administrative procedures in Algeria to bring the Vietnamese workers back as scheduled.
The seven workers who expressed their wish to stay in Algeria will sign a contract appendix with new norms.
To conduct the repatriation, Simco Song Da has to pay 1,700 USD per worker to compensate its Chinese partner. The amount is equal to what each Vietnamese worker has to refund to their employer to end their contract ahead of schedule.
In early October, Vietnamese workers contracted to work for Dongyi Jiangsu Co. Ltd on a construction site in Khenchela province, more than 460 km east of Algiers, called for help after being beaten by their employer.
Under the contract, the workers should be paid based on working days and on a monthly basis. However, when they arrived in Algeria, the Chinese employer wanted to change to piecework payment.
After the Vietnamese workers objected to the change, they were assaulted by the Chinese employer on September 16. Two workers, Dau Hoang Anh and Dao Ngoc Cuong, were injured during the assault.-VNA
