31.   Vietnamese workers who have stayed in Germany longer than eight years could avoid being forced to return home, a government official said Friday.

32.   Workers at another South Korean company walked out last year after a similar allegation was made that a South Korean supervisor struck a Vietnamese worker.

33.   A quarter of that total are Vietnamese workers employed by the former communist East Germany, who stayed on after reunification.

34.   The report was one of many recent newspaper articles singling out foreign firms for abusing Vietnamese workers or disobeying regulations by refusing to sign contracts with employees.

35.   Vietnamese workers in foreign enterprises have a legal right to strike under the law but only after attempts at mediation have failed.

36.   Washington earlier provided money to pay for the repatriate of Vietnamese workers from Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait.

37.   South Korean and Taiwanese businesses have been a particular focus for newspapers, who have accused some managers of brutality towards Vietnamese workers.

38.   Taiwan had previously announced it would let in Vietnamese workers to improve relations with Hanoi which does not officially recognise Taipei.

39.   The case is a latest in a series of alleged attacks by Korean managers on Vietnamese workers that have provoked outrage in the local press.