Swift actions urged to protect Vietnamese workers, apprentices in Japan
The Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs announced on January 4 that it has sent a document urging businesses which had dispatched workers and apprentices to the Japanese prefectures of Ishikawa (especially the Noto Peninsula), Toyama, Niigata, and Fukui to promptly take protective measures for them in earthquake-affected areas.
A building burns following the earthquake in Ishikawa. (Photo: Kyodo)
Hanoi (VNA)🤡 – The Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministryof Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs announcedon January 4 that it has sent a document urging businesses which had dispatched workers and apprentices to the Japanese prefectures of Ishikawa (especially the Noto Peninsula), Toyama, Niigata, and Fukui to promptly takeprotective measures for them in earthquake-affected areas.
Thedocument stated that at 4:10pm on January 1, an earthquake occurred on theNoto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, causing tremors in several prefectures andcities in Hokuriku region. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunamiwarning and urged residents living near the coast, especially in Ishikawa,Toyama and Niigata prefectures, to evacuate immediately.
Coastalprefectures in western Japan, including Yamagata, Hokkaido, Tottori, Saga also received a tsunami warning. In the evening of the same day, a tsunami with a heightof 1.2m struck Ishikawa, while smaller tsunamis hit Niigata, Toyama, andHokkaido.
The department asked these enterprises to immediately contact apprentices and workers currently working in the earthquake-affected areas toassess the situation, compile data on the number of affected persons (if any)and the difficulties they are facing, requiring urgent assistance.
ꦺ They must closely work with labour management unions,recipient companies and relevant stakeholders to grasp the situation of workersand come up with response plans; provide support for those facing difficultiesdue to the earthquake, ensure the safety of their lives and property by temporarilyrelocating them from old or earthquake-prone buildings.
Theywere also requested to keep contact with the apprentices and workers to promptly instruct earthquake prevention and evacuation measures in emergency cases, and share phonenumbers of the labour management board in Japan: 81.70.1479.6888 and the VietnameseEmbassy in Tokyo: 81.80.3590.9136. Anydifficulties encountered during the support process must be promptly reportedto the department and the labour management board in Japan./.
As of 9 pm on January 1, there had been no Vietnamese people reported dead or injured in the 7.6-magnitude earthquake that hit central Japan earlier the same day, according to Vietnam Embassy in Japan.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on January 2 sent a message of sympathy to his Japanese counterpart Kishida Fumio over huge losses in human lives and property caused by a massive earthquake that hit Ishikawa prefecture and adjacent areas in central Japan on January 1.
There had been no casualties among Vietnamese citizens recorded due to a recent earthquake in Japan as of 9pm on January 2, according to the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, citing notifications from the National Police Agency of Japan.
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A building burns following the earthquake in Ishikawa. (Photo: Kyodo) 
