Forced labour behind your screen
A Danwatch investigation, published in June 2019, supported by Make ICT Fair.
From the website:
'Millions of migrant workers from Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Myanmar work in factories in Malaysia. Many of them are producing components for some of the world’s most popular electronics brands.
The migrants are promised decent wages, working and living conditions. But many workers end up in debt bondage and forced labour.
Danwatch interviewed migrants working at a Malaysian factory supplying some of Europe’s and the US’ largest computer chip makers.
The workers claim they had their passports confiscated, received violent threats and were deceived about major parts of their wages. According to experts, the working conditions constitute forced labour.
Danwatch interviewed other migrants who had worked at a factory supplying Panasonic and Toshiba. The workers claim the factory confiscated their passports and demanded excessive sums of money to give them back. As a result, several workers are now stuck in Malaysia without documents.
The electronics brands are now investigating the cases.'
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