Nestlé exposes abuses in Thailand’s seafood industry
The Thai seafood industry is plagued with widespread forced labor and other human rights violations according to a report released last week by Nestlé.
The Thai seafood industry is plagued with widespread forced labor and other human rights violations, according to a report released last week by Swiss food and beverage giant Nestlé. The yearlong investigation was commissioned by Nestlé and conducted by global NGO Verité. The resulting report exposes and catalogues endemic exploitative working conditions in Thailand’s seafood and shrimping industries. Nestlé found these abuses within its own supply chain and warns that, because of the general vulnerabilities of migrant workers in Thailand, virtually all European and US food companies that purchase seafood from Thailand are at risk of having the abuses in their supply chains as well.
During the investigation, Verité discovered these workers—a majority of whom are from countries like Cambodia and Myanmar—were subject to deceptive recruitment, leading to debt bondage and degrading living conditions. In addition, investigators found many underage workers were forced to fish. The study also found some workers were “sold” to a boat captain, were not paid, worked excessive overtime, had their passports and documentation confiscated, and were subject to verbal and physical abuse.