Exclusive: Burmese workers say officials took one day to conclude no laws were broken at VK Garment factory
Thai police have been accused of conducting a “sham” investigation into potential forced labour at a garment factory formerly used by Tesco after officials took one day to conclude no laws were broken.
The Guardian revealed last month that Burmese workers who produced F&F jeans for Tesco in Thailand reported being made to work 99-hour weeks for illegally low pay in terrible conditions.
Civil servants and police conducted interviews with 114 former workers at VK Garment factory (VKG) on 28 December in Mae Sot to screen for forced labour.
A spokesperson for the department of labour protection and welfare said the team concluded later that evening “no forced labour or services [were] found”. He added that “no victim under other laws was found” and that officials were unanimous in reaching that conclusion.
Workers told the Guardian the interviews were rushed and felt like a tick-box exercise to clear the factory of allegations. They took place simultaneously with 21 interview teams in an open-plan immigration building.
One former ironing worker, Ye Zaw Zo, said he watched as his answer about illegally low pay was deleted from an officer’s screen. He said he told officers he had more to say but they refused to make a note of it. “It was such a waste of time,” he said. “For me, this was a one-sided investigation.”
He told the Guardian last month the factory lowered his...
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