Police investigate human trafficking at Kotka battery factory – hundreds of Chinese victims
Police suspect hundreds of Chinese workers are victims of human trafficking at a battery materials factory in Kotka. Four suspects are in pre-trial detention.
Human trafficking suspected at Kotka battery materials factory – four in pre-trial detention
Police suspect labour trafficking at a battery materials factory worksite in Kotka, according to kouvolansanomat.fi. The victims are a large group of workers who arrived from China and have been working at the site since the beginning of this year. According to Yle, at the busiest phase in summer, the worksite had more than 300 Chinese workers.
The Helsinki Police Department's nationwide human trafficking investigation unit initiated a preliminary investigation in September after receiving reports of suspected exploitation from several sources. During the investigation, nine individuals have been arrested. Currently, four suspects are in pre-trial detention. The case is being investigated as human trafficking and as aggravated organisation of illegal entry.
The main contractor for the factory project is the Chinese company China Harbour Engineering Company, whose subcontractor is Jiangsu Installation Finland. The latter has hired Chinese temporary workers through a Finnish staffing agency. According to police, the suspects include actors from both the Chinese company and the Finnish staffing agency.
According to police, the Chinese workers spoke no language other than Chinese and did not have sufficient knowledge of Finnish society, their own rights, or the employer's obligations.
The customer for the factory project is Easpring Finland New Materials, of which the Finnish state owns just under 30 per cent through Finnish Minerals Group (FMG). The majority owner is Beijing Easpring Material Technology, listed on the Chinese stock exchange. FMG announced at the end of September that the Chinese workers' working conditions had been severely deficient.
According to an investigation commissioned by FMG, it is likely that several workers were pressured to sign new employment contracts. The investigation, however, found no evidence that parties higher up in the contract chain, such as China Harbour or Easpring Finland, were aware of or complicit in the irregularities.
The trade unions Construction League and Industrial Union have demanded permanent solutions. According to the Industrial Union, the trampling of foreign workers' working conditions is common on large worksites and subcontracting chains obscure responsibility.
Source: Google News FI — Crime (fi)