12 captors of almost 570 people, 50 of whom were children, are now on trial for slave trafficking, illegal detention, forced labor, and murder. They ran their factories like prisons, complete with guard dogs and beatings for those who tried to escape.
Children as young as eight years old were captured and forced to work long hours for nothing.
"The scandal came to light after some 400 distraught parents of children who had been sold into slavery set up an online campaign to raise awareness of the issue.
The case drew widespread anger and unusually strong criticism from the state-run media. President Hu Jintao ordered an immediate inquiry."
The scandal in Northern China is widespread. More trials are anticipated as there are an additional 160 suspects who have been arrested. It is speculated however, that there are still many more people being forced into slave labor under horrid conditions.
One of the twelve currently on trial, Wang Bingbing, was a boss at the Kiln factory. Wang happens to be the son of the secretary of a local branch of China's ruling Communist Party.
If it weren't for the Internet, I wonder how the parents would have managed to attract enough attention to have this place shut down? They were fortunate that the state run media reacted with strong denunciation.
My guess is that there are many more forced labor camps that go unnoticed, or perhaps they are noticed yet officials look the other way. It is sad to think so many of our products may be produced under such deplorable circumstances.
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