Brazilian authorities said Friday that an investigation was underway into “international trafficking aimed at the exploitation” of Chinese workers on the construction site of a factory for electric car giant BYD.
Earlier this week, the Public Ministry of the Brazilian state of Bahia (north-east) announced that a series of inspections carried out since November had made it possible to “rescue” 163 Chinese workers working in “conditions similar to ‘slavery’ for the Jinjiang construction company, a subcontractor for the Chinese BYD. The site in question is located in Camaçari, approximately 50 km from Salvador, capital of Bahia. BYD is currently building its largest electric car factory outside Asia there, aiming for a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year.
In a joint statement dated Friday, several Brazilian public bodies indicated that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office had “requested the sharing of the evidence collected so that measures could be taken at the criminal level”. “A vast body of evidence collected during weeks of inspection shows (…) that the 163 workers were victims of international trafficking aimed at their exploitation for work in conditions identical to slavery,” details this press release. .
During a videoconference hearing on Thursday, BYD and Jinjiang “undertook to collaborate in the protection” of the workers in question, agreeing that they remain housed in hotels “while negotiations on the termination of their employment contracts be concluded,” according to the authorities.
Investigators spoke of “degrading conditions” in which the workers lived, sleeping in dormitories “without mattresses” and being exposed on the construction site “to intense solar radiation, showing clear signs of skin problems”. The Bahia Public Ministry of Labor also reported suspicions of “forced labor”, workers from China having had their passports “confiscated” and their employer “withholding 60% of their salary, from which they received the rest 40% in Chinese currency.
A spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, said Friday that Beijing has “taken note” of the situation and “attaches great importance to protecting the legitimate rights of workers and demands that Chinese companies operate in accordance with laws and regulations in force. BYD announced Monday evening that it had “terminated with immediate effect” the contract with the Brazilian subsidiary in Jinjiang for the Camaçari site.
This construction company, for its part, rejected the accusations from the Brazilian authorities on Thursday, saying in a publication on the social network Weibo that they “seriously undermined the dignity of the Chinese people”.
