Chinese workers found in ‘slavery-like conditions’ in Brazil taken to hotels as probe gets underway

Associated Press

CAMACARI, Brazil (AP) — Dozens of Chinese workers have been taken and put up in hotels in Brazil’s tropical northeastern region after local labor authorities found them at a construction site for electric vehicle automaker BYD. Local prosecutors say they were living in “slavery-like conditions” under contractor Jinjiang Group and raised allegation of trafficking. The Bahia state Labor Prosecutor’s Office said earlier this week that 163 Chinese workers were found living in poor conditions, and urged the company to place them at local hotels in Camacari, That’s a city of 300,000 residents located about 1,600 kilometers — or 997 miles — north of Rio de Janeiro.