Human Rights
Workers rescued from 'slave-like conditions' building Chinese factory in Brazil
Authorities found that workers were sleeping on beds without mattresses, had access to few bathrooms and were exposed to intense solar radiation, presenting visible signs of skin damage.
![The BYD logo is seen on the BYD stand at the Beijing Auto Show in Beijing. [Greg Baker/AFP]](/gc4/images/2024/12/30/48640-byd3-600_384.webp)
By AFP |
RIO DE JANEIRO -- More than 160 Chinese workers have been saved from "slave-like conditions" in Brazil, where they had been building an electric car factory for Chinese giant BYD, officials said on December 24.
BYD's Brazilian subsidiary said in a statement on December 23 that it has "abrogated with immediate effect" its contract with Jinjiang Construction Brazil Ltd., the company responsible for the work on the site.
The site is in Camacari in the northeast state of Bahia and, when completed, will be BYD's biggest electric car plant outside Asia, with a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year.
Bahia's Public Ministry for Works (MPT) ordered that work on part of the site be suspended.
![Officials from Bahia, Brazil, and executives from Chinese firm BYD at the July 2023 ceremony announcing an agreement to build an electric car production plant in Camacari, Brazil. [Bahia state government]](/gc4/images/2024/12/30/48639-byd-600_384.webp)
Since November the state ministry and other authorities have been conducting inspections that the MPT said identified "163 workers who appeared to be in slave-like conditions with the Jinjiang company providing services for BYD."
An MPT spokesperson told AFP that all of the workers identified were Chinese nationals.
Skin damage
In a statement, the MPT said it had found "an alarming situation of precariousness" where employees were being kept in "degrading working conditions."
"In one of the accommodations, workers slept on beds without mattresses and had no wardrobes for their personal effects, which were mixed together with food supplies," it said.
The MPT also found there was just one bathroom per 31 workers, "which forced them to get up at 4am to line up to be able to get ready before leaving to start work at 5.30am."
Once on the site, "the workers were exposed to intense solar radiation, presenting visible signs of skin damage."
The MPT said it suspected "forced labor" had been occurring, with the workers' passports confiscated and their employer "retaining 60% of their salary, and them receiving the other 40% in Chinese money."
Authorities will soon schedule an online hearing so that BYD and Jinjiang "can present the necessary provisions guaranteeing minimal accommodation conditions" and the rectification of the violations detected.
BYD's Brazilian subsidiary said in its statement that "it does not tolerate violations of Brazilian law and human dignity," adding that it had immediately transferred the 163 workers to hotels in the region.