Testimony of a technical intern trainee used by a broker who came to Japan from Vietnam November 13, 21:00

A man in his twenties who came to Japan as a technical intern trainee from Vietnam but was sent to a farmer in Nagano prefecture while working illegally by a broker later responded to NHK's interview.

The man came to Japan in February, just before the spread of the new coronavirus infection, and started working at a construction company in Kanagawa prefecture.



I was in charge of bending the reinforcing bars at the construction site, but at the beginning, the work content was harsher than I had heard, and the amount of salary taken was less than originally planned, so this time in July I started working. It means that he ran away from.



After that, a man I met on SNS, which is often used by Vietnamese, said, "I have a job at a farmhouse in Nagano prefecture."



Since he had no other job and had almost no cash on hand, Mr. Kon went to Kawakami Village, Nagano Prefecture as instructed, and when he met the man, he paid 30,000 yen as a referral fee.



I was told to send a photo of my face before I went to Nagano prefecture, but the broker man used that photo to make a forged residence card for a man.



The man was single, but the counterfeit residence card stated that he was not a technical intern trainee and that he was a "Japanese spouse" with no restrictions on employment.



The man explained, "I need a counterfeit residence card to prevent illegal employment from being discovered. It will not have a negative effect on you."



After that, a man was sent to a farmhouse in Kawakami Village.



Almost every day, he was harvesting lettuce and Chinese cabbage from 2 am to early afternoon.



A man interviewed by NHK recalls, "I was worried every day that I would be arrested by the police when I was working, and I wanted to get out of illegal employment."



After that, on the 20th of last month, I was suddenly contacted by a company in Osaka that was sending human resources to farmers, and I was strongly urged to leave the workplace immediately.



For the first time, the man learned that he had been registered with a company in Osaka.



He said that he had a debt of about 2 million yen due to the cost of coming to Japan. "I don't want to work illegally anymore, but I still have to work in Japan to send money to my sick parents and brother in Vietnam. I hope I can find a job that suits me. "



Men will consult with the police about their history.

Apprentices dismissed in Corona one after another nationwide

Due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the performance of the workplace where I was working deteriorated, and suddenly, many trainees were dismissed nationwide.



Mr. Tan (25), who came to Japan as an apprentice after graduating from a university in Vietnam last June, worked at a sheet metal factory in Fukuoka Prefecture, but in June, the number of jobs decreased due to the influence of Corona. Was dismissed as.



After that, he was protected by a support group and was evaluated for being able to have simple conversations in Japanese, so he decided to get a job at a food processing company.



Mr. Tan said, "I was surprised when the company suddenly told me to dismiss, and I was very worried because I couldn't live without work. My dream is to continue working in Japan and buy a house for my parents in the future. That's it. "



An organization in Tokyo that supports Vietnamese people has received similar consultations about losing their jobs around the spring of this year, and is currently protecting about 30 people.



Support groups listen to requests from trainees, etc. about their desired work location and industry, and then search for a new company to accept them and lead them to reemployment.

Situation surrounding the technical intern training system

The "Foreign Technical Intern Training Program" is a system in which foreigners learn skills while working in Japan, and a maximum stay of 5 years is permitted.



The number of trainees tends to increase year by year, and as of the end of June, there were about 402,000, and almost half were Vietnamese.



The purpose of the system is to learn knowledge and skills, but the reality is that it is a means of securing a labor force mainly in industries where the working environment is harsh and Japanese people do not gather.



In addition, there are cases where wages are not paid or employees are forced to work illegally for long hours, and many trainees escape and disappear because they cannot withstand the harsh environment.



According to the Immigration Bureau of Japan, 8,796 trainees have disappeared from their workplaces in the last year alone.



Furthermore, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, a number of trainees have been dismissed due to the effects of the new coronavirus, and 3861 people have been confirmed so far.



In some serious cases, the "supervisory organization" that accepted the trainees does not provide support for reemployment, so they cannot live due to lack of housing.



The government has taken measures such as establishing special measures to allow dismissed trainees to change jobs to other industries, which had not been permitted so far, but experts point out that support is insufficient. doing.

Support group "Situation driven by more countries support"

Mr. Yoshitoyo Yoshimizu, the representative of the NPO "Japan-Vietnam Tomoiki Support Association" that supports Vietnamese people, said, "I suddenly lost my job due to the influence of the new corona and I was in need of life, and I had to commit criminal acts. There are people who can't get enough of it. There are more and more cases where there is no place to work and people are introduced to jobs with suspicious content through SNS. "



On top of that, "Most people come to Japan with dreams and hopes, and no one wants to commit a crime. It is important for the country to take concrete measures such as actively supporting employment. That's it. "