China will launch a large-scale nationwide investigation on
laborers employed in small kilns and collieries following the
exposure of the forced labor scandal in Shanxi Province.
Lawbreakers that illegally employ children, force people to
work, or maliciously injure workers will be severely punished,
according to a state council conference chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday.
Many brick kilns owners in Shanxi Province forced workers to
work 14 to 20 hours a day without payment. Owners of the primitive
brick kilns made use of fierce dogs and thugs who beat children at
will.
The investigation group, composed of personnel from the Ministry
of Labor and Social Security, the Ministry of Public Security and
the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, made a preliminary report
on the scandal at the conference.
So far about 160 suspects have been detained in Shanxi and Henan.
By Sunday night, about 45,000 policemen had raided more than
8,000 kilns and small coal mines in the two provinces and freed 591
workers, including 51 children.
The criminals are suspected not only of illegal employment
practices, but also of abduction, limiting others' freedom,
employing under-age workers, and even murder.
The conference ordered the Shanxi government to step up
investigation of the scandal and compensate the victims.
Yu Youjun, governor of Shanxi Province, made a
self-criticism at the conference on behalf of the Shanxi
government.
The conference urged local governments and central ministries to
learn a lesson from the scandal.
(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2007)