Mexico rescues 129 workers 'abused' by S.Korean firm

AFP via finance.yahoo.com ^ | Feb 6 ,2015 | Yemeli Ortega

[posterchild]

Mexico City (AFP) - Mexican authorities have rescued 129 workers, including six children, who said they were exploited and physically and sexually abused at a garment factory run by South Koreans, officials said.

Four South Korean nationals have been handed over to prosecutors in the western state of Jalisco after workers identified them as the owners or managers of the company named Yes International, the National Migration Institute (INM) said.

Authorities raided the company in the town of Zapopan on Wednesday after receiving an anonymous tip, INM coordinator Ardelio Vargas Fosado told reporters, describing the South Koreans as a "gang of suspected human traffickers."

Officials rescued 121 women and eight men, including six minors who were 16 and 17 years old.

The workers told prosecutors that they were "victims of physical and sexual abuse, as well as threats, psychological harm and grueling work days," Vargas Fosado said.

The four South Koreans could not prove whether they legally lived in Mexico. The South Korean consulate was notified to provide assistance to the suspects, officials said.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Since when did Mexico ever shive a git about workers being “abused”? This sounds more to me like the Koreans failed to pay their extortion fees.

[Cowboy Bob]

when the Koreans said that they would feed the workers Hot Dogs for lunch...they didn’t realize that the Koreans really meant Hot Dogs!!!

[posterchild]

If the INM is getting involved and they are ‘suspected human traffickers’ then there is likely much more to the story. I wonder where the employees are from.

[livius]

The employees may well be other smuggled Asians. NYC was full of these little sweatshops (often run by Koreans) that had Chinese slave-workers. Some were smuggled in illegally, but others had been brought here semi-legally (that is, they entered legally and went through immigration procedures, but just for a tourist stay) with promises of a “good job,” etc., and then found they were in debt to the smugglers for many thousands of dollars and had to work in these garment factories until they paid it off (which would be never). And they were the lucky ones...young women often ended up as prostitutes working in the storeroom of a Chinese restaurant.

[Enterprise]

"The tomato farm's workers were kept in overcrowded housing and were paid half of what had been offered, much of it delivered in vouchers redeemable at the company store, where items were sold at a high markup."

Ya load 16 tomatoes and watta you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Obama won't you call me so I can go
I owe my soul to the company store

[Mount Athos]

Slavery is all over the world on a big scale right now.

Shrimp boat industry with large scale slavery off Thailand. Cocoa plantations west africa. Some mines are run with defacto slaves. Lots of forced prostitution even in europe. Mali, nigeria has out and out slaves. On and on.