THE AIM of the government in banning the entry of domestic workers from Vietnam is to stop their exploitation and tackle the ring of agents, making up to €6,000 from each, the migration department said yesterday.
According to the department’s Riginos Polydefkis, agents from both Cyprus and Vietnam have been exploiting Vietnamese women coming to the island to work by charging up to €6,000 for arranging their arrival and employment, a figure easily surpassing their annual income in Cyprus.
“The exploitation is by both (countries),” said Polydefkis.
The government announced on Monday that it decided on February 3 to ban the entry of domestic workers from Vietnam with immediate effect.
Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said the main reason behind the decision was the recent “en masse” asylum applications from Vietnamese workers whose permits were either close to expiration or had expired.
However, Polydefkis yesterday cited a wide range of problems with Vietnamese domestic workers in the last three years which led to the decision, including the use of forged documents, exploitation, prostitution and abandoning the workplace.
He said the temporary ban was needed to give the government time “to find solutions to improve the conditions and methods of their entry into the Cyprus Republic”.
“The aim is to tackle the rings, which we were the first to identify and bring to the attention of the ministerial committee and all the relevant authorities, including the police. The (migration) department is making a coordinated effort to eradicate this illegality,” said Polydefkis.
“We considered it correct to tackle the root of the problem, and adopt proper procedures on a basis which does not lead these women to trafficking, poverty and exploitation,” he added.
The migration official said a better system needed be set up to ensure correct procedures were in place for these women to leave Vietnam and arrive in Cyprus with certified documents.
There are around 36,000 domestic workers in Cyprus, around 11,000 from Vietnam. The majority of the remainder are from Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The latter are better organised and usually speak at least English, if not Greek. Vietnamese workers, on the other hand, tend to have difficulties with English and Greek. They are much less organised, have no formal means of expression and as such, are less able to guarantee their rights or protect themselves from exploitative agents or employers.
