Believe in easy work, high salary
On the afternoon of June 13, at Cau Treo International Border Gate (Huong Son District, Ha Tinh), after many days of being controlled and beaten for ransom at Bo Keo (Laos special economic zone), a group of young Vietnamese people were rescued by authorities and brought back home safely.
Among the 6 young men who were allowed to return home this time, 5 victims were tricked into going to Laos to work, including: HBĐ.A (born in 1999), HBQA (born in 2004), NXG (born in 2000), NXV (born in 2005), all residing in Can Loc district (Ha Tinh); NTKC (born in 2002, residing in M'Drak district (Dak Lak); 1 remaining victim residing in Pho Yen city (Thai Nguyen).
Notably, the group of 5 rescued victims included HBĐ.A and HBQA, who are brothers; NXG, NXV, and NTKC, who are close cousins. All 5 young men worked in the same place, were brutally beaten, starved, and forced to pay ransom.
Talking to VietNamNet, NXV (born in 2005, residing in Phu Loc commune) said that after finishing 9th grade, he went to work as a mechanic in Binh Duong. One time, while surfing the internet, he saw a Facebook account recruiting customer service staff on computers, working in Laos, with a salary of 15 - 18 million VND.
Over the phone, the woman who called herself "Miss Ba" said she was looking for a light job with high salary and no travel expenses, as long as the job was done according to the contract. Because working as a mechanic was hard work, the salary was low, and she came from a poor farming family, so when she heard the high salary, V. listened.
From that information, NXV informed NXG (my uncle's son who had just been discharged from the army) and NTKC (my aunt's son who was working at a coffee shop in Dak Lak) and the two agreed. In early June 2022, "Miss Ba" picked up the three brothers in Hong Linh town (Ha Tinh) and then followed National Highway 8A through Cau Treo International Border Gate. There were 8 people in the car at that time, in addition to the driver, "Miss Ba" and 2 relatives, there were also HBĐ.A, HBQA (residing in Gia Hanh commune, Can Loc district).
Also according to NXV, when they arrived in the capital Vientiane (Laos), they stayed here for 2 days, then the whole group was taken to Bo Keo to work. Initially, they were given computer typing, then practiced reading documents to introduce European cryptocurrency exchanges.
“After working for 3 months, using the excuse of low salary, "Miss Ba" directly completed the paperwork and took the 5 brothers to another company. The work was the same as before, with full salary from September 2022 to March 2023,” V. said.
Tortured, forced to sleep sitting up
According to NXV, on April 24, the company made a surprise phone check and discovered a text message between V. and his brother, stating that a customer had given them $500. Believing that V. had stolen the company's money, the boss ordered his employees to lock the five brothers in a room, confiscate all their phones, and brutally beat them.
“The more I explained, the more they beat me. During the first three days, they used electric batons on many parts of my body, causing my skin to burn, and sometimes the pain was so bad that I fainted. They also used baseball bats, iron rods, whips, rubber bands, and electric wires to beat me,” NXV recalled in a daze.
Also according to NXV, during the detention, the group was handcuffed 24/7, but at first they were still allowed to sleep lying down. Then they were handcuffed under the second-floor bed so they could not lie down and had to sleep sitting up, their hands always hanging upside down. During this time, they were only fed once a day, in the afternoon. Although the food was not much (1 handful of rice and a little meat and vegetables), it had to be divided into two meals to ease hunger.
“On April 27, a Chinese person gave me a phone and asked me to call home and ask my family to send ransom money. Initially, they asked for 1.9 billion VND to ransom 5 people, after the family negotiated, it was reduced to 1.2 billion VND. Because it was sudden and the family did not have the money ready, they asked for 3 days,” NXV said.
“When the time came, the family still did not have money, so the group continued to be beaten. On average, they beat us once every three days, and each time they beat us, they forced us to call home to put pressure on our families. We were beaten so much that our families were worried. As for me, they demanded a ransom of 300 million VND,” V added.
To put pressure on the victims, they took HBQA and NTKC to another place to be detained. When there were only 3 people left, they said that they had sold HBQA and NTKC, and if the family did not transfer the money in time, they would sell everything. However, after inquiring through the guard, they learned that HBQA and NTKC were being locked up on the lower floor, so they felt more secure.
“During my detention, I was the one who was beaten the most brutally. They beat me whenever they wanted, day and night. Sometimes they hit me with a baseball bat on my back, causing me to have chest pain and difficulty breathing for days. Sometimes they jumped on the bed and kicked me in the face.
Every day that passed was a nightmare, and I lay awake at night, tossing and turning in fear. Just hearing a noise at the door gave me goosebumps. Sometimes, I would suddenly wake up from a deep sleep, sweating profusely, unable to fall back asleep. At that time, I only wished to go home, to do anything, no matter how hard it was, as long as I was free,” V. recalled in confusion.
On the morning of May 15, they forced V. to call home. While V. was talking, they pressed an electric baton on him, causing him to scream loudly in pain. Out of pity for his son, V.'s father sold his buffalo, borrowed money and gold from relatives and neighbors. After receiving 300 million VND from V.'s family, they removed the handcuffs and treated V. better.
Seeing that they could not force the families of the remaining four victims to sign a paper to sell the group to another company to pay off their debts, on May 17, they removed the handcuffs, collected their clothes and belongings, and brought all five people to live in the same room.
During the 2 weeks we stayed here, the group had to eat on their own, using the remaining money to buy rice and fish sauce. Luckily, we had instant noodles sent over by our family.
On the afternoon of May 30, someone from the new company came to pick him up to work as a cafeteria assistant. After 2 days of working there, because he did not know what happened at the old company, the new owner returned the phone, thanks to which the location was sent home, serving as a basis for the authorities to rescue him.
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