Chinesische Staatsangehörige in Südafrika wegen Entführung und Zwangsarbeit von Malawier

* Seven Chinese nationals who smuggled Malawians to South Africa and subjected them to forced labour have been handed 20-year prison terms each.
* The four men and three women were found guilty of human trafficking and kidnapping earlier this year.
* Their sentence comes nearly six years after they were arrested when local authorities raided a factory in Johannesburg and found 91 Malawian nationals, 37 of them children, working in appalling conditions.
* Human trafficking is a major concern in South Africa, with the country regarded as a „source, transit and destination“, according to the government.
* The factory raid came after authorities received a tip-off from a worker who had managed to escape.
* Employees were forced to work 11-hour shifts, seven days a week, without proper training or safety equipment. They were also paid far below South Africa’s minimum wage of $1.64 (£1.22) per hour and had their pay docked if they wanted time off.
* According to South Africa’s labour laws, employees cannot work more than nine hours a day and are generally entitled to a „weekly rest period of at least 36 consecutive hours“ that includes Sunday, unless a different agreement is reached.
* Workers were not allowed to leave the heavily guarded factory premises, even to buy food, which were described as dirty and unsuitable for human beings.
* According to authorities, the victims had been smuggled into the country in shipping containers.

Good. The 20 year sentence is well deserved.

They have nobody to blame but themselves.