China Says Abusive Child Labor Ring Is Exposed

Jessica Otey/ May 1, 2008/ 4:55 pm/ Labor Problems

A child labor ring has been discovered recently in Dongguan, China. Dongguan is one of the country’s biggest manufacturing cities, with many prosperous factories. As a result of worker shortages, inflation, and rising currency many of these factories have turned to child labor in order to gain an edge over their competition.

The saddest part about this incidence is that employment agencies kidnapped these children in order to obtain cheap labor. Most of the young workers were taken from the poorer inland areas in order to work in the bigger coastal cities. Often times these children were forced to work three hundred hours a month, earning very little pay. Most of the children working in the factories are anywhere from thirteen to fifteen years old. The legal age limit for employment in China is sixteen.

The Chinese authorities have rescued over one hundred children already and are continuing to investigate the matter. The names of the factories have not been announced yet, so it is impossible to tell who these companies export their products to. In recent years Beijing has cracked down on those who violate child labor laws. Usually the factories or companies that are found using the practice will get their license revoked.

This story is so shocking. I cannot imagine what these children and adolescents are going through, especially working three hundred hours a month. Hopefully the authorities can rescue all of these children and return them to their families. Maybe then they can go back to a normal life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/world/asia/01china.html