DILI, 04 january 2023 (TATOLI) – More than 800 Timorese Seasonal Workers have been registered under the protection visa, the Secretary of State for Vocational Training and Employment, Rogério Araújo Mendonça has said.
“A total of 827 Timorese workers are currently working in Australia under protection visa. Of these workers, 173 are women,” according to the National Director of Foreign Employment (DNEE) of the Secretary of State for Vocational Training and Employment (SoSVTE), João Correia Pereira.
According to him, there are different reasons why workers break their Seasonal Workers Program (SWP) contract and seek a protection visa: “Some workers are not satisfied with their current contract, including the duration and wages, while others have family problems.”
“Some workers prefer to work longer in Australia, so they applied for a protection visa to work there longer,” said Pereira.
SoSVTE, in collaboration with the companies, will continue to monitor their movement and performance in Australia.
It’s not just in Australia that workers are looking for other options to work longer than the contract period, but Timorese workers in South Korea are also breaking their contracts to work as illegal immigrant workers.
Last year, the South Korean Ambassador to Dili, Shin Mantaek, revealed that more than 1,300 Timorese laborers were working in South Korea as illegal migrant workers.
Pereira said that a total of 780 Timorese laborers are currently working in South Korea.
In the last three years, Timor-Leste has sent 5,868 Timorese workers to South Korea and contributed US$43 million to the country.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Filomeno Martins
