A 24-YEAR-OLD Vietnamese man who worked under the Technical Intern Training Program in Japan has alleged that he had been coaxed into doing decontamination work in Fukushima, according to a recent report by Nikkei, a financial newspaper in Japan.

The man, who requested anonymity, came to Japan in September 2015 and signed a contract to work for a construction company based in Iwate prefecture, with the job specified as engineering and construction work.

Between October 2015 and March 2016, the man was sent to Koriyama in Fukushima prefecture dozens of times to do decontamination work in a residential area, including digging out soil from ditches, according to the report.

Afterwards, he was engaged in dismantling buildings in an exclusion zone in Kawamata, Fukushima, before restrictions in the area due to high levels of radiation were lifted.

“I wouldn’t have come to Japan if I knew I would be doing this (decontamination work),” the Vietnamese trainee was quoted by Nikkei as saying.

The trainee finally ran away from the construction company in November 2017 due to health concerns about possible radiation, according to Nikkei.

The construction company, however, denied that it had violated labor laws, claiming that decontamination is not beyond the scope of construction work and it is not the only company that makes foreign trainees do decontamination work.

Japan’s Ministry of Justice said Wednesday that it has started investigations into the case.

(Xinhua)