Media reports in Vietnam last week said Qatar had stopped issuing visas to Vietnamese workers because some had become notorious for robbing their compatriots, fighting, gambling and illegally making alcohol.

"We heard about the decision, but we have not received any official statement or document yet from the Qatar side on this issue," said Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, deputy head of the state-run Overseas Labour Department.

"We have sent a team to Qatar to study the issue. We will discuss this with Qatar, because Vietnam and Qatar in January signed a labour agreement."

Last week, Vietnam's state-run Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper reported that Vietnamese guest workers in Qatar were notorious for "fighting, strikes, gambling, theft, robbery and the illegal production of alcoholic drinks."

A gang of about 50 Vietnamese had committed armed robberies against their compatriots and stolen their money and mobile telephones, it said.

The newspaper said Qatar had informed Vietnamese diplomats in Doha of the visa suspension, but the report did not cite any officials by name, and it did not specify when the ban started or how long it would last.

Last month, the Czech Republic suspended new visas for Vietnamese until the end of the year, citing concerns over criminality in its Vietnamese community involving counterfeit goods, tax evasion and cannabis-growing.

Vietnam's communist government promotes sending migrant workers abroad to generate remittances and keep down unemployment in the country of 86 million.

Last year, Vietnam sent 85,000 workers overseas -- mostly to Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea and other Asian countries. It targets sending 100,000 workers abroad per year by 2010, with the Middle East seen as a growth area.

About 10,000 Vietnamese work in gas-rich Qatar, and Vietnam's government has said it hopes to step up the programme over next three years.

Experts on Vietnam's migrant-labour sector have documented many cases of fraud and abuse of labourers, some of whom spend years in overseas jobs without making money because of high upfront costs and additional expenses.

Agence France Presse - December 9, 2008