Police, labour execs linked to Chinese slavery scandal
Saturday, June 23, 2007
GOVERNMENT labour monitors and police officers were actively involved in the Chinese brickyard slavery scandal, investigators said yesterday.
Primary investigations found that members of both groups were involved in the operation of the illegal kilns in north China's Shanxi province, said Sun Baoshu, a labour and social security minister, according to a Xinhua report.
Sun added the accused had abused their power for personal gain. "The scandal is pretty serious," he was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Two officers from the team set up to monitor labour standards in Yongji city, Shanxi, have been detained and accused of dereliction of duty and abuse of power.
The two are accused of moving one child worker, who was being sent back home after he was found working in central China's Henan province, to another kiln in Shanxi for new employment, the report added.
Police in the northern province of Shanxi arrested Hou Junyuan, the head of a labour inspection team in Yongji city, after he moved the boy to a new kiln instead of sending him back to his home in the neighbouring province of Henan.
Another official from Hou's team, Shang Guangze, was arrested on charges of abuse of power, the Xinhua agency said.
Earlier, state media reports said the officials had also pocketed 300 yuan ($59) that should have been given to the boy before he was sent home.
Investigators yesterday said they have now freed 359 people in Shanxi, including 12 children, and 65 people with mental disabilities, Sun said.
Police are now holding 35 people linked to the forced labour and are still hunting for another 20, according to the report. Another 62 have already been given more minor punishments.
Shanxi governor Yu Youjun Friday apologised for the debacle.
"I feel compunction and heart-stricken over the scandal. On behalf of the provincial government, I apologise to the victims and their families, as well as to all the people in Shanxi," said Yu, according to Xinhua.
"As Shanxi governor, I'll take the blame for the scandal that infringed the rights of farm workers and children."
His apology came two days after he made a formal admission of error at a meeting of China's cabinet, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, the report added.
Chinese authorities say that 45,000 policemen have raided more than 8,000 brickyards and small coal mines in Shanxi and in neighbouring Henan over the past two weeks in an effort to end the slave labour, which has drawn worldwide condemnation.
Police have now rescued around 600 workers in both provinces, but hundreds of children who were working as slaves remain missing, despite the huge publicity surrounding the human trafficking ring.
The slavery scandal has uncovered a grisly human trafficking ring in which people were beaten and sometimes killed for not working hard enough or trying to escape.
Yesterday's report said some workers were forced to work more than 15 hours every day, given poor food, and prevented from escaping by guard dogs. Many received burns and other injuries working in the hot kiln.
The central government has sent a team of investigators to probe the scandal.
An Internet petition posted by concerned parents on June 5 that was the trigger for the police action said up to 1,000 children were enslaved in Shanxi brickyards alone. The parents of 400 missing children issued a fresh appeal to China's leaders to find their sons and daughters. Agencies
Primary investigations found that members of both groups were involved in the operation of the illegal kilns in north China's Shanxi province, said Sun Baoshu, a labour and social security minister, according to a Xinhua report.
Sun added the accused had abused their power for personal gain. "The scandal is pretty serious," he was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Two officers from the team set up to monitor labour standards in Yongji city, Shanxi, have been detained and accused of dereliction of duty and abuse of power.
The two are accused of moving one child worker, who was being sent back home after he was found working in central China's Henan province, to another kiln in Shanxi for new employment, the report added.
Police in the northern province of Shanxi arrested Hou Junyuan, the head of a labour inspection team in Yongji city, after he moved the boy to a new kiln instead of sending him back to his home in the neighbouring province of Henan.
Another official from Hou's team, Shang Guangze, was arrested on charges of abuse of power, the Xinhua agency said.
Earlier, state media reports said the officials had also pocketed 300 yuan ($59) that should have been given to the boy before he was sent home.
Investigators yesterday said they have now freed 359 people in Shanxi, including 12 children, and 65 people with mental disabilities, Sun said.
Police are now holding 35 people linked to the forced labour and are still hunting for another 20, according to the report. Another 62 have already been given more minor punishments.
Shanxi governor Yu Youjun Friday apologised for the debacle.
"I feel compunction and heart-stricken over the scandal. On behalf of the provincial government, I apologise to the victims and their families, as well as to all the people in Shanxi," said Yu, according to Xinhua.
"As Shanxi governor, I'll take the blame for the scandal that infringed the rights of farm workers and children."
His apology came two days after he made a formal admission of error at a meeting of China's cabinet, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, the report added.
Chinese authorities say that 45,000 policemen have raided more than 8,000 brickyards and small coal mines in Shanxi and in neighbouring Henan over the past two weeks in an effort to end the slave labour, which has drawn worldwide condemnation.
Police have now rescued around 600 workers in both provinces, but hundreds of children who were working as slaves remain missing, despite the huge publicity surrounding the human trafficking ring.
The slavery scandal has uncovered a grisly human trafficking ring in which people were beaten and sometimes killed for not working hard enough or trying to escape.
Yesterday's report said some workers were forced to work more than 15 hours every day, given poor food, and prevented from escaping by guard dogs. Many received burns and other injuries working in the hot kiln.
The central government has sent a team of investigators to probe the scandal.
An Internet petition posted by concerned parents on June 5 that was the trigger for the police action said up to 1,000 children were enslaved in Shanxi brickyards alone. The parents of 400 missing children issued a fresh appeal to China's leaders to find their sons and daughters. Agencies
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