Brazilian officials have found more than 160 Chinese nationals working in “slave-like conditions” to build a factory for electric vehicle giant BYD, according to the local prosecutor’s office.

BYD’s Brazilian subsidiary said in a statement it has “broken with immediate effect” its contract with the company responsible for the work on the site, Jinjiang Construction Brazil Ltd.

The site was located in Camacari, in the north-east state of Bahia.

It was set to be the Chinese car company’s biggest EV plant outside Asia, with a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year.

‘Slave-like conditions’

Bahia’s Public Ministry for Works (MPT) had been conducting inspections since November and said it identified “163 workers who appeared to be in slave-like conditions with the Jinjiang company providing services for BYD”.

An MPT spokesperson said it had found “an alarming situation of precariousness” where employees, who were all Chinese nationals, were being kept in “degrading working conditions”.

“In one of the accommodations, workers slept on beds without mattresses and had no wardrobes for their personal effects, which were mixed together with food supplies,” it said.

Alleged ‘forced labour’

The MPT also found there was just one bathroom for every 31 workers, “which forced them to get up at 4:00 AM to line up to be able to get ready before leaving to start work at 5:30 am”.

The ministry said that “workers were exposed to intense solar radiation, presenting visible signs of skin damage” on the site.

The MPT said it suspected “forced labour” had been occurring, with the workers’ passports confiscated and their employer “retaining 60 per cent of their salary, and them receiving the other 40 per cent in Chinese money”.

Authorities have organised an online hearing on Thursday to allow BYD and Jinjiang to “present the necessary provisions guaranteeing minimal accommodation conditions” and the rectification of the violations detected.

BYD’s Brazilian subsidiary said “it does not tolerate violations of Brazilian law and human dignity”, adding that it had transferred all the workers to stay in hotels in the region.

AFP