Who is responsible for putting Chinese workers to slavery-like conditions at a construction site in Brazil?
This is the big and resonating question that has trailed the shocking discovery of 163 Chinese nationals working in “slavery-like conditions” inside India.
The 163 are engaged at a construction site for a factory owned by Chinese electric vehicle producer BYD.
Brazilian officials stumbled on the number on Monday, believed to have been hired in China by another firm and brought to Brazil irregularly.
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They were laboring for long hours, in excess of what is allowed by Brazilian law, sometimes for seven days a week straight, a report on Reuters on the issue said.
It said the men were also being kept in conditions that violated labour laws, saying these included poor conditions in their accommodation.
The officials did not speak to the press when contacted, and the names of the workers involved remained unknown.
The medium while explaining “slavery-like conditions” in Brazil, said it include forced labour, covered debt bondage, degrading work conditions, long hours that pose a risk to workers’ health and any work that violates human dignity.
The Chinese workers had to request permission to leave their lodgings, and at least 107 also had their passports withheld by their employer, said labor inspector Liane Durao, adding that conditions at the work site were dangerous.
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“We found that the work of … these 163 workers, was carried out in slavery-like conditions,” she said.
“Minimum safety conditions were not being met in the work environment,” said Durao.
The operation is ongoing, said Durao, and fines have not yet been issued.
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