Brazilian government suspends work visas for Chinese electric car maker BYD after local authorities rescue 163 Chinese nationals who were working in conditions “akin to slavery'' at a BYD factory under construction in Camaçari, Bahia Reuters reported Friday.
BYD, a company with deep knowledge tie The Chinese Communist Party is building a factory on land once occupied by American automaker Ford. sold After Ford, transfer of location to Bahia Regional Government in 2023 I quit We will begin all operations in Brazil in 2021.
Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office announced On December 23, construction work at a BYD factory in Bahia was suspended after an ongoing investigation found that BYD hired dozens of Chinese nationals to build the factory through a contractor identified as Jinjiang Group. announced that it has been cancelled.
Local inspectors say Chinese workers on temporary work visas in Brazil are forced to work in “precarious” and “poor” conditions, with extremely unsanitary conditions lacking basic hygiene measures. They found evidence that he was forced to live in a boarding house. Brazilian authorities rescued the workers and temporarily housed them. Hotel Due to an ongoing investigation.
The investigation, which began in mid-November after multiple complaints, found rescued workers were subject to “forced labor” conditions, including having to surrender their passports to contractors and pay 60% of their wages to contractors. It was also discovered that he had been exposed. If they decide to quit, they could be threatened with severe punishment. “Forced labor” is widely recognized as a form of labor. modern slavery.
Following a virtual hearing Thursday between Brazilian Public Prosecutors Office and Ministry of Labor officials and representatives from BYD and Jinjiang Province, the Public Prosecutor's Office said: reportedly It said the rescued Chinese workers were victims of “international human trafficking”, which is recognized as another form of modern-day slavery.
Citing information provided by Brazil's Ministry of Justice, Reuters said in a report that authorities would revoke residence permits issued to Chinese workers if the misconduct found in the prosecutor's investigation into the BYD factory is confirmed. Ta.
Anonymous sources cited by Reuters said the Justice Ministry asked the Foreign Ministry to suspend temporary visas for BYD three days before the investigation was made public. The order was reportedly forwarded to the Brazilian embassy in Beijing.
local stores reported Last weekend, Brazilian immigration law allowed companies to request temporary work visas to bring foreign workers to Brazil, pending approval from the Labor Ministry. Companies must provide evidence that prospective workers have the specific training or experience necessary to perform the job. This visa is usually intended for cases where it is difficult to find certain types of workers in Brazil. Brazilian media G1 claimed that this was not the case for construction workers hired by contractor Jinjiang to work at the BYD factory.
According to Reuters, BYD invested $620 million in establishing a factory complex in Bahia state. Construction work on the now-closed BYD factory “is a symbol of China's growing influence in the South American nation and an example of the close ties between the two countries.”
Jinjiang Group, the contractor BYD employed the rescued Chinese workers, reportedly He denied the allegations in a statement posted on Chinese social media platform Weibo last week. The Jinjiang government claimed that the depiction of employees as being “enslaved” contradicted the facts and was subject to a “mistranslation.”
“By being unfairly labeled as 'slaves,' our employees felt that their dignity was insulted and their human rights violated, deeply hurting the dignity of the Chinese people. We express our true feelings. “We have signed a joint letter to do so,” the statement reportedly said.
The statement was reportedly reposted by Li Yunfei, BYD's general manager of branding and public relations. According to Reuters, Li accused “foreign forces” and some Chinese media outlets of “deliberately tarnishing the Chinese brand and China, and damaging China-Brazil relations” on his Weibo account.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
