Amid tension, Vietnam suspends sending workers to Middle East

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Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

In its notice, the ministry assigns the Department of Overseas Labour (DOLAB) to coordinate with relevant agencies to keep a close watch on the regional situation and outline plans to evacuate Vietnamese guest workers to safer places and bring them home in case of emergency.

Earlier, the DOLAB sent a document to concerned labour businesses, asking them to take measures to ensure safety for Vietnamese labourers in the volatile region.

The businesses need to continue supervising working and living conditions of the Vietnamese guest workers there and keep in touch with their employers, joining hands in ensuring safety and security for the labourers and evacuating them if the situation gets worse, it said.

The department also required every enterprise to set up a hotline and take actions got emerging cases, and report the work before January 13.

According to the department, there are about 10,000 Vietnamese workers in the Middle East.

Given the recent tensions in the Middle East, Vietnam’s representative agencies in the region and domestic relevant parties are ready to take citizen protection measures when necessary, said Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang.

She added to ensure security and safety for Vietnamese citizens in the Middle East, the Foreign Ministry on January 8 advised Vietnamese against going to the region’s countries that could be influenced by conflicts. It also recommended that the citizens present in the affected countries should avoid going to the areas those countries have warned against travel to, and follow local authorities’ instructions to ensure the safety of their lives and property.

The Foreign Ministry has publicised the citizen protection hotlines of all representative agencies of Vietnam in the region so that people can contact when necessary. It has also ordered the representative agencies in the Middle East and domestic relevant sides to keep a close watch on the situation and ready citizen protection measures in case of necessity, she said./.