Official plays down kiln slavery figures in Shanxi
14 August 2007
Shanxi Vice Governor Xue Yanzhong announced yesterday that only 17 of the 4,861 brick kilns inspected in a crackdown of slavery in Shanxi brick kilns has found evidence of human trafficking, the South China Morning Post reported. "Until now, the provincial [government] has rescued 359 migrant workers, among them 15 are children and 121 mentally retarded people," Mr Xue said. The figures are substantially below the 1,000 enslaved children Henan parents reported after embarking on rescue trips across Shanxi to find their missing children. A countrywide crackdown ending last month rescued 1,340 migrant workers and 367 mentally retarded workers coerced to work and found 1.5 million workers without employment contracts.