Japanese authorities have decided to revoke the permit of Okayama Sangyo Gijutsu Kyodo Kumiai – an intermediate body that introduces foreign trainees to host companies – after it failed to prevent the physical abuse of a Vietnamese man by his Japanese co-workers at a construction firm.
The organisation, based in the Japanese western prefecture of Okayama, has been prohibited from introducing foreign trainees to companies for five years under an administrative punishment issued by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW).
The Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISAJ) under the MoJ said the body had failed to properly oversee the construction firm Six Create, submit a report on the matter, or implement necessary steps after it was informed by the victim.
Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo on May 31, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa admitted that extremely vicious human rights violations occurred due to the failure of the supervisory group, which shows a serious problem lies in the system itself.
The government will work to prevent a recurrence of such incidents and intends to proceed with a review of the technical internship system, Kyodo News cited the minister as saying.
Last January, a technical intern from Vietnam said he had been mistreated by his colleagues while working at Six Create.
The 41-year-old Vietnamese man, who arrived in Japan in 2019, sustained serious injuries, including a broken rib, in repeated assaults by his co-workers that began a month after he joined the construction firm.
The intermediary organisation and Six Create have apologised to the man and agreed to pay him compensation.
In response to the case, ISAJ, MHLW, and the Organisation for Technical Intern Training (OTIT), a government entity overseeing the technical internship programme, on January 24 appealed to the companies receiving interns and broker organisations to monitor mistreatment in the workplace.
The OTIT has filed a complaint with the Okayama prefectural police accusing the Japanese co-workers of assaulting the Vietnamese man.
Authorities in Japan banned Six Create from receiving foreign interns for five years from February 18./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency