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Police rescue 31 'slaves'
08/06/2007 07:22 - (SA)
Beijing - Chinese people have rescued 31
people forced to work for a year as slaves - given only bread
and water and no pay - at a brickworks run by the son of a
local Communist Party official, state media reported on Friday.
Eight of the workers were so traumatised by the experience
they were only able to remember their names, the Beijing News
said, citing a report in the Shanxi Evening Post.
One labourer was beaten to death with a hammer for not
working hard enough, before police swooped to set the others
free, the newspaper added.
The survivors had bruises, wounds and burns all over their
bodies, having been made to carry uncooled bricks and walk
barefoot in the kiln, it said.
"The grime on their bodies was so thick it could be scraped
off with a knife," the newspaper added.
They were guarded by dogs and "thugs" at the factory, near
Linfen in the poor inland province of Shanxi, and the boss was
only allowed to get away with it because of his political
connections, the newspaper said.
"Local villagers said, had Wang Dongji not been Party
Secretary, this brickworks which had no paperwork would have
been discovered a long time ago," it said, referring to the
father of boss Wang Binbin.
The foreman's son and one of the hired thugs had been
detained by police, but four were on the run, the report said.
The workers are still living at the brickworks while the
local government tries to get their wages.
"But the eight migrant workers who are not in their right
mind have no idea where their homes are, and the local
government is in the process of finding out," the newspaper
said.
A similar incident was reported last year, also in Shanxi
province, although the workers were only kept imprisoned for
two months.
Millions of migrant workers from poor rural areas have
flocked to urban areas to find work, hoping to enjoy some of
the fruits of an economy clocking near double-digit growth.
Working often for as little as $2 a day or less, they have
helped turn China into the workshop of the world and one of the
world's biggest economies.
Many of these labourers work without formal contracts, and
have little recourse to the law in case of disputes, which
makes them more prone to exploitation.
- Reuters
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