China Rescues Brick Kiln Slave Workers

AP - Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:07:58 -0400 (EDT)

Police in central China have rescued 217 people, including 29 children, who had been forced to work as slaves at brick kilns, official media reported Thursday.

More than 35,000 officers were mobilized to raid 7,500 kilns in Henan province during a three-day campaign that ended Tuesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported. They detained 120 suspects, it said.

The crackdown came amid a national furor sparked by reports on the Internet of efforts by 400 Henan fathers to track down missing sons they believe were sold as slaves.

In an open letter on the Internet, the fathers accused authorities in Henan and neighboring Shanxi province of ducking responsibility and turning a deaf ear to their pleas. They claim around 1,000 children were being forced to work at kilns under extremely cruel conditions.

Incidents of forced work in factories and elsewhere are frequently reported in China, and child labor is thought to be common, especially in the poorest and most remote parts of this vast country.

However, Xinhua said police on Saturday rescued 16 children at kilns less than 46 miles north of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, one of China's most densely populated provinces. The province has been dogged by a reputation for corruption, crime and poor governance.

Xinhua said laborers at the Henan kilns were abducted or lured there with false promises, then beaten, starved and forced to work long hours for no pay. Those too sick or weak to haul bricks would be whipped, it said.

Xinhua said Henan and Shanxi police were planning joint operations against the kilns and human traffickers.

"We must do everything we can to fight human trafficking and rescue those held captive," it quoted Henan police chief Qin Yuhai as saying.