Rescue workers living in “slavery-like conditions” in Brazil

Brazilian officials reported yesterday that more than 160 Chinese workers who were living in “slavery-like conditions” were rescued while working on a project to build an electric car factory for the giant Chinese company BYD.

The Brazilian branch of BYD said in a statement the day before yesterday that it “immediately terminated” its contract with the “Jinjiang Construction Brasil” company responsible for work on the site.

The factory is located under construction in the northeastern state of Bahia, and when completed, it will be BYD’s largest factory for electric cars outside Asia, with a production capacity of 150,000 cars annually.

Work on part of the site was suspended by order of Bahia’s Ministry of Public Works, which had been conducting inspection tours since November.

The ministry said it had identified “163 workers who appear to be living in slavery-like conditions with Jinjiang, a company that provides services to BYD.”

A ministry spokesman told AFP that all of these workers were Chinese nationals.

In a statement, the Ministry of Labor said that employees are being held in “degrading working conditions.”

She added, “The workers sleep on beds without mattresses, and there are no cupboards to place their personal belongings that were mixed with food supplies.”

The ministry also found that there was only one bathroom for every 31 workers, “forcing them to wake up at 4 a.m. to stand in lines before leaving to start work.”

After arriving at the work site, “workers are exposed to intense solar radiation,” noting that signs of “skin damage” appear.

The ministry also suspects “forced labor” conditions, where the employer confiscated the workers’ passports and kept “60% of their salaries,” while they received “the remaining 40% in Chinese currency.”

Authorities organized an online hearing on Thursday so that BYD and Jinjiang could correct the discovered violations.

BYD in Brazil confirmed that it “does not tolerate violations of Brazilian law and human dignity,” adding that it immediately transferred the 163 workers to hotels in the region.