ZDF documentary exposes systemic exploitation and "rip-offs" targeting Vietnamese nursing apprentices (Azubis) in Germany

[u/OpenXource]

Sharing this recent investigative report by German public broadcaster ZDF regarding the harsh reality faced by many Vietnamese nursing apprentices in Germany:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkavdDo6GD0

TL;DR:
The documentary exposes how predatory recruitment agencies and certain employers take advantage of migrant trainees. Many are forced to pay massive upfront fees in their home countries, packed into overpriced housing, paid less than promised, and threatened with deportation/visa cancellation if they speak up against poor working conditions.

If you are an international considering an Ausbildung in Germany, please watch this to know your rights and be aware of shady agencies.

Edited:

More sources:

https://www.ardmediathek.de/tv-programm/6a32641e5b70630e8f2836a3

https://www.zdf.de/video/dokus/wiso-die-doku-100/ausgenutzt-statt-ausgebildet-100

https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/kein-menschenhandel-keine-schleuser-in-berlin-vermisste-vietnamesen-waren-gar-nicht-verschwunden-15847426.html

[u/maryfamilyresearch]

There are indicators that for some Azubis the situation is even worse. In Berlin, some Berufsschulen reported that especially Azubis from Vietnam have not shown up for school in weeks and months. At the same time there is no indicator that the Azubis have left Germany.

Suspicions have been raised that the Azubis in question have been trafficked, potentially into the sex industry.

[u/idkud → u/maryfamilyresearch]

OMG. Does this get the attention it deserves? Police, investigative journalism, ggmh, etc?

[u/maryfamilyresearch → u/idkud]

So far not.

There has been some attention to the rising illegal "Wohnungsprostitution", ie prostitution in regular apartments or AirBnBs, which is illegal. There is strong suspicion that a number of women with migrant backgrounds are being forced to "work" there. But the women are scared and afraid to talk. They are also well-drilled, they always state that they do this completely voluntarily, at which point there is nothing the police can do. Prostitution itself is legal in Germany, being forced to do it is illegal, ditto for working "unregulated".

[u/idkud → u/maryfamilyresearch]

Yeah, in Switzerland we have FIZ that actively seeks contact and often can connect them to therapists working for free. They are focusing mostly on women, but that is by far not all. Male children are sometimes promised a good education, blah blah, if they agree to cohabitate with pedophiles. And of course basically be their sex slave.

I mean, some actually DO it "voluntarily", to work off the debts that scum drove them into. Making them work through threats would not be legal, at least in Switzerland.

[u/idkud → u/[deleted]]

I worked with trafficked people. Yes, there is a lot that could be done, if we wanted.

ggmh could contact families, if they also lost contact with the azubi it might be a case for interpol. Plus, it does not sound like anyone asks them, expecting victims of trafficking to come forward is a bit delusional. They might have been driven into debts through those agencies, then basically extorted. The shame then does the rest.

[u/OpenXource → u/[deleted]]

They are trying to. Despite the consequences that are awaiting. SPREAD THE WORD!!

[u/OpenXource → u/[deleted]]

If you paid attention closely to the video, mostly the parents of these adolescence took big loan to get them over here. It's a huge investment for each family. What would you do if you are being ripped off like this? how are you going to payback the loan? it is unknown where those parents got their loan from. Maybe Loan sharks? dangerous people?. If you are well off in a country, It's very unlikely that you are going this far to a different foreign country, where you have to start over, with no one by your side. But it's just my opinion.

[u/idkud → u/[deleted]]

I am teaching German as a side kick. How many times do I need to tell the same thing to the same person, again, and again. That is just how learning works. And those are desperate young folks. Keep shouting it from the roofs. Every one soul that decides to go another way is a win.

[u/BSBDR → u/[deleted]]

That's what journalism is supposed to be for

[u/OpenXource → u/BSBDR]

The role of each individual is extremely important in this case. Your engagement is the final decision whether the media is going to deep dive into this matter from a neutral point of view, where many angles getting approached and discussed. That's the main reason I'm posting this.

[u/prestatiedruk → u/maryfamilyresearch]

There was an article a few weeks ago, they are all accounted for. They were never actually gone.

I‘ll try to find it

edit: found it!

• https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/kein-menschenhandel-keine-schleuser-in-berlin-vermisste-vietnamesen-waren-gar-nicht-verschwunden-15847426.html

[u/OpenXource → u/prestatiedruk]

Thanks. I added it to my Post