China News Service, Brussels, July 27 (Reporter De Yongjian) According to Belgian media reports on the 26th, a construction site in the port of Antwerp, Belgium's largest port, is suspected of human trafficking. 55 technicians from the Philippines and Bangladesh may be human beings. Victims of trafficking.
The Belgian Times published a report on the same day that a large chemical plant for the production of polypropylene was being built at the site involved, and the "owner" was Borealis, a well-known European chemical company.
The 55 workers, mostly pipeworkers and welders, worked for a contractor on the site.
According to the report, the consular department of the Philippine embassy in Belgium was the first to receive the report, and then notified the Antwerp city government and Belgian non-governmental organizations that assist in the fight against human trafficking.
An investigation by the Antwerp Labour Inspectorate found that the 55 workers had to work six days a week, but they were paid only 650 euros per month, only a quarter of the normal wage in Belgium.
At the same time, the investigation found that the living conditions of the workers were very poor. Many people first settled in Hungary, which is also a member of the Schengen area, and then came to Belgium with Hungary work permits, but these documents have now expired.
The Antwerp Labour Inspectorate is currently investigating the incident.
After the Belgian Times published a report on the 26th, Austria-based Borealis responded that the 55 workers were not directly employed by Borealis, but were “employed” by company contractors.
The Belgian NGO that assisted in handling the matter pointed out that, taking into account the low wages, poor living conditions, and expired documents, 55 workers may be victims of human trafficking; large-scale human trafficking.
When the case was exposed on the 26th, the "World Day against Human Trafficking" on July 30th is approaching.
In a related statement issued last year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the new crown pneumonia epidemic has increased the number of people in extreme poverty worldwide by 124 million, and millions of them are at risk of being trafficked.
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