Source:
Agence France-PresseChina's slave scandal kilns used 53,000 illegal workersMon Jun 25, 5:13 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - Brick kilns and mines at the centre of a slavery
scandal used more than 53,000 illegal migrant workers, state
media reported Monday, as the probe into the abuses spread.
Fan Duixiang, a senior member of the Shanxi provincial congress,
said investigations found that 2,036 of the 3,347 firms it had
raided were operating without the necessary licences and
illegally using 53,036 migrant workers, a Xinhua report said.
Monday's report added that lawmakers at China's top legislature
were likely to pass a new labour law in the next few days to try
and prevent a repeat of the scandal.
The report comes after official and police involvement in the
affair -- where hundreds of workers suffered abuse and
enslavement in illegal mines and kilns -- became more evident,
according to state press reports.
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