Shrimp sold at some retailers, including Costco and Walmart, are being farmed and processed by slaves in Asia who are forced to work under threat of extreme violence, according to a report.
A six-month investigation has established that large numbers of men bought and sold like animals and held against their will on fishing boats off Thailand are integral to the production of prawns (commonly called shrimp in the US) sold in leading supermarkets around the world, including the top four global retailers: Walmart, Carrefour, Costco and Tesco.”
The investigation found that the world’s largest prawn farmer, the Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods, buys fishmeal, which it feeds to its farmed prawns, from some suppliers that own, operate or buy from fishing boats manned with slaves.
Men who have managed to escape from boats supplying CP Foods and other companies like it told the Guardian of horrific conditions, including 20-hour shifts, regular beatings, torture and execution-style killings. Some were at sea for years; some were regularly offered methamphetamines to keep them going. Some had seen fellow slaves murdered in front of them.
The problem of slavery in the Thai fishing industry has been brought up before, but this report puts together the pieces to connect slavery to these industry-leading retailers and producers.
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Slavery is illegal worldwide, but the International Labour Organization claims that about 21 million people – including children — are still enslaved globally.
The Guardian reports:
Thailand is considered a major source, transit and destination country for slavery, and nearly half a million people are believed to be currently enslaved within Thailand’s borders. There is no official record of how many men are enslaved on fishing boats. But the Thai government estimates that up to 300,000 people work in its fishing industry, 90% of whom are migrants vulnerable to being duped, trafficked and sold to the sea. Rights groups have long pointed to Thailand’s massive labour shortage in its fishing sector, which – along with an increased demand from the US and Europe for cheap prawns – has driven the need for cheap labour.
NEWS 92 FM is speaking to shrimpers in the Galveston area, and we’ll have their reactions later.
CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO FROM THE GUARDIAN
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Report: Slave Labor Producing Shrimp Sold at Costco, Walmart was originally published on news92fm.com
