Brazilian authorities have halted construction of a factory by Chinese electric car company BYD after it was discovered that more than 160 Chinese nationals were living in “slave-like” conditions.
Workers at a construction site in Brazil's northeastern state of Bahia were found to be working long hours (sometimes seven days in a row) and living in “poor” accommodation.
Workers employed by a contractor called Brasil Kinko Construction were not allowed to leave their homes without permission, and more than 100 had their passports confiscated. Workers were hired in China and brought to Brazil.
The factory they were helping build would be BYD's first electric vehicle factory outside of Asia, and was scheduled to be open and operational by March 2025.
authorities from Public Prosecutors Office The site has been under investigation since November. “The work of these 163 workers was found to have been carried out in slave-like conditions,” the local labor prosecutor's office said at a press conference on Monday.
The authorities added that “minimum safety conditions were not met in the working environment.”
In Brazil, slavery-like conditions include forced labor, poor working conditions, debt bondage where workers are forced to work to pay off debts rather than new pay, and long hours that pose risks to workers' health. This includes labor, etc. Any work that violates human dignity.
The investigation found that workers were forced to sleep on beds without mattresses, and that more than 600 workers were sharing eight portable toilets, in “deplorable conditions” with a lack of toilet paper and water. It turned out that
Also, due to lack of kitchen space, food is stored in unsanitary conditions near bathrooms, and cooked meals are often found open on the floor, exposed to dirt, and unrefrigerated. I did. Most workers were forced to eat in bed.
“The conditions found at the accommodation revealed an alarming situation of instability and deterioration,” the prosecutor said.
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BYD said that “disrespect for Brazilian law and human dignity cannot be tolerated,” and said it was immediately terminating its contract with Jinjiang province for some work at the factory and considering “other appropriate measures.” said.
BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, was originally founded in 1995 as a battery company, but has since become one of the world's largest EV manufacturers. It is led by Wang Chuanfu, who is often referred to as China's Elon Musk, and is headquartered in Pingshan, a suburb of Shenzhen.
All employees will be transferred to hotels in the region, and the company announced that it has begun a detailed review of the working and living conditions of all employees employed by contractors working on the project.
BYD added that the company has been operating in Brazil for 10 years and has “always maintained strict compliance with local laws and a commitment to ethics, respect and human dignity.”
