Wal-Mart, Red Lobster, Whole Foods and other retailers sell slave-peeled shrimp – report

Systemic human trafficking in Thailand is the engine that helps supply cheap shrimp to the US, Europe, and Asia, the AP reports. Forced laborers, including children, work 16 hours a day under threat of violence, deportation, or imprisonment.

 

Lax enforcement and low awareness of forced-labor laws in Thailand allow powerless workers, most of whom are undocumented migrants at the mercy of their handlers and bosses, to fuel the country’s $7 billion seafood export industry, the Associated Press reported. Shady exporters and subsidiary suppliers have been taking advantage of the situation, as parent companies that operate with a global reach claim ignorance of abuses they call abhorrent.

US custom records have linked slave-intensive shrimp production originating from the Gig Peeling Factory in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, to Thai exporters and subsidiaries associated with some of the world’s largest seafood companies, including Japan’s Maruha Nichiro Foods, as well as Thai Union, Kongphop Frozen Foods, and The Siam Union Frozen Foods.

https://www.rt.com/usa/325914-slave-shrimp-thailand-seafood/