Ap: Global Supermarkets Selling Shrimp Peeled By Slaves

[cavanami]

No surprise here...has been openly going on for years! Remember all the hub-bub about the slaves

on the fishing boats...which died away...now this...

There are some 300,000 workers in this area from Myanmar...

 

AP: Global supermarkets selling shrimp peeled by slaves

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ap-global-supermarkets-selling-shrimp-050605163.html

 

SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand (AP) — Every morning at 2 a.m., they heard a kick on the door and a threat: Get up or get beaten. For the next 16 hours, No. 31 and his wife stood in the factory that owned them with their aching hands in ice water. They ripped the guts, heads, tails and shells off shrimp bound for overseas markets, including grocery stores and all-you-can-eat buffets across the United States.

 

After being sold to the Gig Peeling Factory, they were at the mercy of their Thai bosses, trapped with nearly 100 other Burmese migrants. Children worked alongside them, including a girl so tiny she had to stand on a stool to reach the peeling table. Some had been there for months, even years, getting little or no pay. Always, someone was watching.

 

No names were ever used, only numbers given by their boss — Tin Nyo Win was No. 31.

 

Pervasive human trafficking has helped turn Thailand into one of the world's biggest shrimp providers. Despite repeated promises by businesses and government to clean up the country's $7 billion seafood export industry, an Associated Press investigation has found shrimp peeled by modern-day slaves is reaching the U.S., Europe and Asia.

 

The problem is fueled by corruption and complicity among police and authorities. Arrests and prosecutions are rare. Raids can end up sending migrants without proper paperwork to jail, while owners go unpunished...

[bust]

All it indicates is how far out of touch a lot of media is.

[baa99]

http://icefishnews.com/martak-is-launching-a-new-shrimp-peeler/

 

The Icelandic company Martak, based in Grindavík is shortly lauching a new revolutionary shrimp peeling machine. The new machine will use less water and energy than those now already on the market and the yield will also be higher.

 

[Coss]

I've never been much of an activist for anything, but now when I see Prawns/Shrimp in my local supermarket, I'm only going to buy the Aussie ones, a bit more expensive, but at least I'm not lining the pockets of the SinoThai.

[Coss]

Nestle accused of putting slave-caught fish into top selling cat food

 

By Edvard Pettersson and Robert Burnson

 

Fancy feast cat food Nestle — Nestle SA was sued over claims that its Fancy Feast cat food contains fish from a Thai supplier that uses slave labor.

 

The complaint against the Swiss food giant follows one last week accusing Costco Wholesale Corp. of selling farmed shrimp from Thailand, where slave labor and human trafficking in the fishing industry are allegedly widespread.

 

The four consumers who filed the Nestle case in Los Angeles federal court seek to represent all California buyers of Fancy Feast who wouldn’t have bought the product had they known that the fish was allegedly harvested using forced labor.

 

“By hiding this from public view, Nestle has effectively tricked millions of consumers into supporting and encouraging slave labor on floating prisons,†Steve Berman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

 

“It’s a fact that the thousands of purchasers of its top-selling pet food products would not have bought this brand had they known the truth -– that hundreds of individuals are enslaved, beaten or even murdered in the production of its pet food.â€

 

Keith Schopp, a U.S. spokesman for Nestle Purina PetCare, didn’t immediately respond after regular business hours to phone and e-mail messages seeking comment on the lawsuit.

 

The slavery lawsuits follow the publication last month of the U.S. State Department’s annual report examining human trafficking in 188 countries, in which the agency cited concerns about slave labor in Thailand’s fishing industry and faulted the Thai government’s record in fighting exploitation.

 

Nestle’s Thai supplier gets its fish from trawlers whose crews are often men and boys who have been trafficked from Myanmar and Cambodia, according to Thursday’s complaint. They are sold as slaves by brokers and smugglers to fishing captains in Thai ports and frequently resold out at sea, the consumers said.

 

http://www.biznews.c...lling-cat-food/

 

I've also thought that cats are a big problem any way, feeding them only allows them to increase in numbers. Cats have devastated the planet's smaller wildlife and birdlife. Perhaps if we fed cats to cats we could solve this problem.

[YimSiam]

They should at least give the slaves some of the better jobs in the outfit, as a kind of acknowledgement for the other drawbacks of the slave contractual status...

 

It's certainly out there - sometimes a bit disguised, or semi-temporary, so it's not exactly black folks in the cotton fields (although it is Burmese in the cotton t-shirt factories on thai of the border, and Karen and Mon in the farms and plantations - bought and sold and put to work in groups, eventually sprung free by some ally or other - or not) Shocking to see it in a modern factory context, though - agriculture, fishing, somehow not as shocking, but assembly lines for garments and products we use ourselves, it was a surprise to me to hear credible stories about it - and almost all the people I've talked to take it as totally just another incidence of good or bad luck, no outraged, just glad it's over.

[cavanami]

....hardly over...it continues now! It operates in the wide open!! Geeeee...how can that be

[bust]

Thai Union: Australian supermarkets implicated in slave labour accusations against giant seafood company

 

 

Major Australian supermarkets have been implicated in a child labour and human trafficking scandal in Thailand.

Coles, Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets have confirmed that they source seafood from the giant company Thai Union.

Thai Union has been accused of slave-like conditions in its prawn peeling factories, including bonded and child labour.

A report by the Associated Press newsagency revealed that hundreds of workers at the Gig Peeling Factory outside of Bangkok, owned by Thai Union, had been subject to human rights abuses.

The report described workers being sold to factories where they were beaten, detained and forced to work 16-hour days.

These shrimp peeling sheds, these places where these traffic labourers were found by AP have not been a secret, they have been in existence here for years.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Asia

The company is a major seafood supplier to international markets, including supermarkets in Australia.

Australian supermarket chain Coles issued a statement that said that they sourced some frozen prawns from Thai Union via an Australian agent.

The Coles statement said that the agent has confirmed that the prawns supplied to Coles were not sourced from the prawn peeling facility named in the AP report.

"Notwithstanding these assurances, Coles has initiated an investigation of our supply chain to ensure that our ethical compliance program is being properly followed," the Coles statement said.

German-owned supermarket chain ALDI confirmed they did not source prawns from Thai Union or Thailand.

But they said that Australian ALDI stories do sell canned tuna, canned chicken and canned salmon supplied by Thai Union.

It has promised to keep a close eye on the company's labour practices.

"If ALDI is notified of any issues within the supply chain, we will investigate and act swiftly to address any situation that does not meet our high standards and supplier terms and conditions," the ALDI statement said

Woolworths was unavailable to speak to ABC.

Not the first case of mistreated workers in Thai seafood industry

Phil Robertson, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Asia, said if Australian supermarkets and restaurants want to ensure that their supply chains do not involve bonded labour, then they would need to be more aggressive with Thai exporters to ensure that the products they are supplied are not produced with forced labour.

"These shrimp peeling sheds, these places where these traffic labourers were found by AP have not been a secret, they have been in existence here for years," Mr Robertson said.

"There have been various different instances where people have gone in and raided them."

Mr Robertson said between 2007 and 2008 there were raids on two factories which had similar abuse uncovered as that of the recent AP report on the Gig Peeling Factory.

One was the Ranya Paew shrimp processing factory in Samut Sakhon, which was raided by police and immigration officials in September 2006.

"There has been an ongoing systematic abuse of migrant workers who are brought from the border owing debts for the travel, basically smuggling to bring them down here and put in debt bonded labour," he said.

"Now the question is whether Thailand has the political commitment to clean it up or not."

Mr Robertson said the problem remains in Thailand because of a lack of commitment from many of the employers.

"They are very comfortable with this model, which allows them maximum flexibility and very low cost labour," he said.

"I think there are problems with corruption, at least the local level officials to look the other way on these kinds of abusive workplaces.

"And a lack of effective enforcement by police and the local authorities," Mr Robertson said.

He said that in some cases it appeared that local police were involved, either in terms of dealing with the brokers bringing in the labourers to the sweat shops, or in other instances being paid to look in the other direction.

Thailand's prime minister has spoken about the treatment of workers at Thai Union, but it is not clear that police will take action against the factory or its owners.

"The prime minister just came out with a statement yesterday swearing that everybody who was involved, who had broken the law, would be held accountable," Mr Robertson said.

"Hopefully that takes place, we hope that they go beyond the rhetorical commitments of the past and effectively enforce this and bring some of these those employers into the courts and if they are found guilty send them to jail for long periods of time.

"Let's see less talk and more action for a change."

[Coss]

Thiraphong Chansiri, left, president and chief executive of Thai Union Frozen Products, poses in front of the new company logo with his father Kraison Chansiri, center, chairman and co-founder; and his uncle, Chen Niruttinanon, executive chairman and co-founder.

 

 

SinoThai

[Coss]

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thai-Frozen-Foods-hits-back-at-claims-30275010.html

 

THE THAI Frozen Foods Association yesterday brushed aside an Associated Press report on the use of forced and child labour in shrimp plants exporting to the US market.

 

Poj Aramwattananont, president of the association, said shrimp plants in Samut Sakhon no longer employed children or illegal foreign workers.

 

The association will next Monday hold a press conference to clarify the situation and provide an update on the measures taken by the Thai government, fisheries and related enterprises to stamp out illegal and forced labour over the past six months.

 

The European Union has issued a warning to Thailand, citing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices, while the US has left Thailand languishing in Tier 3, the lowest level of its annual Trafficking in Persons report. Poj said Thailand has done a lot during the past year to solve the labour problem, especially among large fishery and related firms.

 

These large operators would also ensure that small operators in their supply chain follow good practices in the use of labour, he added

 

If any firms are found to have used illegal or forced labour, they will be removed from the supply chain.

 

Poj reassured international buyers that seafood suppliers in Thailand are now better managed and no longer use illegal or forced labour, as they are subject to high labour-practice standards and buyers' inspections two or three times a year.

 

A source from a shrimp plant in Samut Sakhon said that the plants now afford equal treatment to Thai and foreign workers, paying an average daily wage of Bt300 and providing welfare services. Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO of Thai Union Group, responded to the AP report on alleged ongoing use of forced and child labour in the Thai shrimp industry by insisting that Thai Union would not tolerate illegal or unethical labour practices.

 

AP earlier reported that one of the accused plants supplied a unit of Thai Union, which exports seafood products to the US, prompting Greenpeace to call on the company and the industry to take more action to tackle the labour issue.

 

In a statement, Thiraphong reiterated that his company was serious about keeping its supply chain clean.

 

"We are committed to take the necessary actions to ensure products in our supply chain are brought to market in a way that is consistent with our values to operate with integrity and with the utmost respect for human rights - nothing less will be tolerated."

 

---

 

But only when they are caught doing it...

 

No statement of regret for past practices.

 

bold emphasis is mine.