Police rescue 17 slaves from Henan brickworks
By Wang Qingchu |
September 7, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SEVENTEEN people with mental problems used as slave laborers have been rescued from brickworks in central China's Henan Province.
In coordinated raids, police swooped on two kilns in Zhumadian City and Xiping County, where these migrants worked for little or no pay, according to news portal Dahe.com.
Several suspects, including kiln owners, have been detained by police.
The freed workers have been given accommodation and their salary will be recouped, according to the news portal.
A police campaign was launched after media exposed a trafficking chain that recruited, transported and sold migrant workers to illegal brickworks and quarries for labor-intensive jobs in horrendous working conditions.
At one kiln, dozens of workers with mental problems shared one small room. Food--deprived and dizzy from lack of sleep, they were daily forced to do heavy work and punished if they refused, according to Henan Television. Some have also become physically disabled through long-term heavy work.
An industry insider told the TV station that mentally-challenged workers were bought and kidnapped. Kiln owners traded them at values between 300 yuan (US$45) and 500 yuan.
The railway station in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, is reportedly littered with illegal employment agencies involved in selling such workers as slaves.
In coordinated raids, police swooped on two kilns in Zhumadian City and Xiping County, where these migrants worked for little or no pay, according to news portal Dahe.com.
Several suspects, including kiln owners, have been detained by police.
The freed workers have been given accommodation and their salary will be recouped, according to the news portal.
A police campaign was launched after media exposed a trafficking chain that recruited, transported and sold migrant workers to illegal brickworks and quarries for labor-intensive jobs in horrendous working conditions.
At one kiln, dozens of workers with mental problems shared one small room. Food--deprived and dizzy from lack of sleep, they were daily forced to do heavy work and punished if they refused, according to Henan Television. Some have also become physically disabled through long-term heavy work.
An industry insider told the TV station that mentally-challenged workers were bought and kidnapped. Kiln owners traded them at values between 300 yuan (US$45) and 500 yuan.
The railway station in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, is reportedly littered with illegal employment agencies involved in selling such workers as slaves.
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