Migrants peddled as slave laborers
By Wang Qingchu |
September 3, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ILLEGAL employment agencies in a central Chinese city reportedly have been recruiting migrant workers by claiming to match them with employers, then selling them to work as slave laborers under dreadful working conditions with little or no pay.
These unlicensed agencies were hidden around the railway station in Zhengzhou, a transportation hub that is the capital of Henan Province. A complete network from recruitment to distribution was formed to sell migrant workers to do physical work in mines, quarries and kilns, the Economic Information Daily reported yesterday.
A man approached 28-year-old Zhu Wei, who had just arrived in Zhengzhou to look for a job in April. The man offered him a job in a paint factory at a monthly salary of 1,500 yuan (US$235). Zhu was then led to a hostel and locked in a room with 10-plus others who appeared "mentally retarded," the report said.
The next day, the group was sent to several quarries in eastern Shandong Province.
"We didn't have any protection and were directly exposed in the dust. Cameras were installed on the walls to prevent us from escape," Zhu told the newspaper.
After the recruitment agencies found enough people, they sent them to various labor camps across the country. A teenager named Liu Shao stayed in the agency for one night and was taken to the northern province of Hebei along with 15 others.
"The person who picked us up gave 5,000 yuan to the agent," Liu told the newspaper.
Prosecutors say it was difficult to go after the illegal employment agencies partly because they were well-disguised and it was hard to collect evidence. More importantly, a large demand for slave labor prompted people to engage in the illegal business, the report said.
Horrendous working conditions, labor-intensive operations and outdated industries have made it very difficult for owners of these factories to find enough workers through normal procedures. Instead, they opted to coax migrant workers and force them to do physical work, the report said.
"As long as there is demand, there will be supplies," Shi Pu, a professor with Henan University of Economics and Law, told the newspaper.
Zhu managed to flee the quarry and reported the case to the police.
Six suspects at the quarry have been arrested. The case is under investigation.
These unlicensed agencies were hidden around the railway station in Zhengzhou, a transportation hub that is the capital of Henan Province. A complete network from recruitment to distribution was formed to sell migrant workers to do physical work in mines, quarries and kilns, the Economic Information Daily reported yesterday.
A man approached 28-year-old Zhu Wei, who had just arrived in Zhengzhou to look for a job in April. The man offered him a job in a paint factory at a monthly salary of 1,500 yuan (US$235). Zhu was then led to a hostel and locked in a room with 10-plus others who appeared "mentally retarded," the report said.
The next day, the group was sent to several quarries in eastern Shandong Province.
"We didn't have any protection and were directly exposed in the dust. Cameras were installed on the walls to prevent us from escape," Zhu told the newspaper.
After the recruitment agencies found enough people, they sent them to various labor camps across the country. A teenager named Liu Shao stayed in the agency for one night and was taken to the northern province of Hebei along with 15 others.
"The person who picked us up gave 5,000 yuan to the agent," Liu told the newspaper.
Prosecutors say it was difficult to go after the illegal employment agencies partly because they were well-disguised and it was hard to collect evidence. More importantly, a large demand for slave labor prompted people to engage in the illegal business, the report said.
Horrendous working conditions, labor-intensive operations and outdated industries have made it very difficult for owners of these factories to find enough workers through normal procedures. Instead, they opted to coax migrant workers and force them to do physical work, the report said.
"As long as there is demand, there will be supplies," Shi Pu, a professor with Henan University of Economics and Law, told the newspaper.
Zhu managed to flee the quarry and reported the case to the police.
Six suspects at the quarry have been arrested. The case is under investigation.
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