The government of Brazil stopped issuing work visas for Chinese electric carmaker BYD after local authorities rescued 163 Chinese nationals working in conditions “analogous to slavery” at a BYD factory under construction in the city of Camaçari, Bahia, Reuters reported Friday.
BYD, a company with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party, is building the plant at a location once occupied by American carmaker Ford, which sold the location to the local Bahia government in 2023 after Ford ceased all operations in Brazil in 2021.
Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on December 23 that construction work on BYD’s factory in Bahia had been halted after an ongoing investigation found that BYD, through a contractor identified as Jinjiang Group, employed dozens of Chinese nationals to build the factory.
Local inspectors found evidence that the Chinese workers, who were issued Brazilian temporary work visas, were subjected to work in “precarious” and “degrading” conditions and forced to live in lodgings with highly unsanitary conditions lacking basic hygiene measures. Brazilian officials rescued the workers and temporarily placed them in hotels as the ongoing investigation continues.
The investigation, which began in mid-November as a result of several complaints, also found that the rescued workers were subjected to conditions of “forced labor” such as having to relinquish their passports to the contractor and allow for 60 percent of their wage to be withheld under threat of severe punishment should they decide to quit. “Forced labor” is widely recognized as a form of modern slavery.
Following a virtual hearing on Thursday between Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office and Labor Ministry officials with BYD and Jinjiang representatives, the prosecutor’s office reportedly stated that the rescued Chinese workers were victims of “international human trafficking,” another recognized form of modern slavery.
Reuters, citing information provided by the Brazilian Justice Ministry, stated in its report that authorities would revoke the residence permits issued to the Chinese workers if they could confirm the irregularities found in the prosecutors’ investigations at the BYD factory.
According to an unnamed source cited by Reuters, the Justice Ministry requested that the Foreign Ministry suspend temporary visa issuance to BYD three days before the investigation was made public. The order was reportedly forwarded to Brazil’s embassy in Beijing.
Local outlets reported over the weekend that Brazil’s immigration law allows companies to request the issuance of temporary work visas to bring foreign workers to Brazil, pending approval by the Ministry of Labor. Companies must provide proof that the prospective worker has the specific training or experience required to perform said position. The visas are normally meant for cases where it is difficult to find that specific kind of labor in Brazil. Brazilian outlet G1 asserted that this was not the situation with the construction workers hired by the contractor Jinjiang to work on the BYD plant.
According to Reuters, BYD invested $620 million to set up the Bahia factory complex. The presently shutdown construction work for the BYD plant “has become a symbol of China’s growing influence in the South American nation and an example of a closer relationship between both countries.”
Jinjiang Group, the contractor through which BYD hired the rescued Chinese workers, reportedly denied the allegations in a statement published last week on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Jinjiang claimed that the portrayal of their employees as “enslaved” was inconsistent with the facts and that there were “translation misunderstandings.”
“Being unjustly labeled as ‘enslaved’ has made our employees feel that their dignity has been insulted and their human rights violated, seriously hurting the dignity of the Chinese people. We have signed a joint letter to express our true feelings,” the statement reportedly read.
The statement was reportedly reposted by Li Yunfei, general manager of branding and public relations at BYD. Reuters reported that Li accused “foreign forces” and some Chinese media of “deliberately smearing Chinese brands and the country and undermining the relationship between China and Brazil” on his Weibo account.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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