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Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPT) announced on Monday that officials shut down construction of Chinese electric carmaker BYD’s factory in the city of Camaçari, Bahia state, after 163 Chinese nationals found working in “conditions analogous to slavery” were rescued from the site.

Through an official statement, the MPT explained that the decision to shut down the factory’s construction work comes after an ongoing investigation that began in mid-November found that the workers were subjected to work in “precarious” and “degrading” conditions, stay in lodgings lacking basic hygiene measures, and were fed under highly unsanitary conditions. The rescued Chinese nationals were hired to work on the BYD plant in Brazil through a contractor identified as Jinjiang Group.

BYD – China’s premier automaker, and a company with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party – is building an electric car factory in Brazil at a location previously occupied by American carmaker Ford, which ceased its operations in Brazil in 2021. Ford sold the location to the local Bahia state government in 2023.

MPT explained in its statement that the rescued workers had been distributed across four main lodgings in Camaçari. A fifth lodging, intended for administrative workers, was also inspected by the authorities, but no workers were rescued despite inspectors finding “some irregularities” at the site. Brazilian outlets published photographic and video footage of the inspection shared by the officials.

“The conditions found in the lodgings revealed an alarming picture of precariousness and degradation. In the first room, the workers slept on beds without mattresses and had no cupboards for their personal belongings, which were mixed in with food materials,” The Public Prosecutor’s Office stated. “The sanitary situation was especially critical, with only one toilet for every 31 workers, forcing them to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to queue up and get ready to leave for work at 5:30 a.m.”

“All the accommodation shared serious infrastructure and hygiene problems. The bathrooms were not only inadequate, but they were not separated by sex, did not have adequate toilet seats and had poor hygiene conditions,” the statement continued. “The lack of an appropriate place to wash clothes led workers to use their own toilets for this purpose.”

The Public Prosecutor’s Office explained that the kitchen was “equally precarious,” with no proper cupboards for storing food. Inspectors found construction materials next to food, and food stored next to toilets in unsanitary conditions. Only one of the lodgings featured a makeshift dining hall with wooden benches and tables which were insufficient for all of the workers, forcing “most of them to eat their meals in their own beds.”

“The conditions at the construction site also revealed serious irregularities. The cafeteria at the workplace used coolers to serve meals, without ensuring minimum hygiene conditions,” the statement reads. “The chemical toilets, only eight for approximately 600 workers, were in a deplorable state, without toilet paper, water or adequate maintenance, in addition to not respecting the minimum distances established by regulation.”

The investigation also found that the workers were exposed to intense solar radiation, showing visible signs of skin damage. Several workplace accidents were recorded, including one case in which “a worker suffered an accident due to sleep deprivation caused by inadequate housing conditions and long working hours.” 

The investigation also found that the workers were subjected to conditions of “forced labor,” having their passports and 60-percent of their wages withheld by the contractor. The workers were threatened with severe punishment should they decide to quit; the investigation found that early termination of the contract implied the loss of the withheld salaries and the obligation to reimburse the flight ticket costs to Brazil and pay for the return ticket to China.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office explained:

To give you an idea, if a worker tried to terminate the employment contract after six months, he would leave the country without actually receiving anything for his work, since the discount of the deposit, the ticket to come to Brazil and the payment of the return ticket would, in practice, constitute a total confiscation of the amounts received by the workers throughout the employment relationship.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office, together with the Brazilian Labor Ministry, scheduled a joint virtual hearing on Thursday, December 26, so that BYD and Jinjiang “can present the necessary measures to guarantee the minimum accommodation conditions and also to negotiate the conditions for the general regularization of what has already been detected.” 

“The inspection, however, will continue with the analysis of requested documents, and the need for further on-site inspections is not ruled out,” the Prosecutor’s Office stressed.

In a statement provided to local Brazilian media on Monday, BYD Brazil’s vice president Alexandre Baldy reportedly stated that the Chinese carmaker company does not tolerate “disrespect for Brazilian law and human dignity” and that it has decided to “immediately terminate” the contract with the contractor responsible for part of the work at the Camaçari factory, in addition to studying “other appropriate measures.”

“BYD reiterates its commitment to full compliance with Brazilian legislation, especially with regard to the protection of workers’ rights,” Baldy said. “Therefore, it has been collaborating with the competent bodies from the very beginning and has decided to terminate the contract with the construction company Jinjiang.”