Employment available in exchange for debt
Working conditions in the Thai broiler industry
Broiler chickens bred for meat production will soon be the most popular raw material on the global meat market. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, broiler production and consumption will surpass that of pork before 2020.
More and more broiler chicken is being imported to Europe from emerging economies such as Brazil or Thailand, where increasing wealth has made the industrialisation and export of broiler chicken possible.
The Thai food production industry is known for its related human rights risks.
A report on working conditions in poultry industry in Thailand - published in September 2015. The report has been conducted by Finnwatch in cooperation with Swedwatch and MWRN.
Trapped in the Kitchen of the world
The situation for migrant workers in Thailand’s poultry industry
The global consumption of chicken is increasing more rapidly than any other meat product. For the report “Trapped in the Kitchen of the World”, Swedwatch interviewed 98 migrant workers from Cambodia and Myanmar, working at six chicken factories in Thailand. The factories export poultry products to Sweden and other EU countries. The interviewed workers testify to an environment in which rights are infringed upon and where they are being exploited by employers and recruitment agents on a daily basis. Child labour at ages below 15 years is reported by interviewed workers at three of the factories. Workers trapped in debt bondage and other abusive situations were found among the interviewees at all included factories. The report also exposes how European buyers and importers of poultry meat from Thailand have failed in their responsibility to perform due diligence on potential adverse human rights impacts, according to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
