Brazil’s Labor Prosecution Office (MPT) issued a statement on Tuesday (May 27) accusing Chinese car manufacturer BYD of engaging in human trafficking and providing “conditions akin to slavery” for employed Chinese workers. The lawsuit targets BYD, its contractor JinJiang Construction Brazil Ltda, and Tonghe Equipamentos Inteligentes do Brasil Co., now known as Tecmonta.
The prosecutors are demanding a total of 2.57 billion Brazilian reais (approximately 450 million U.S. dollars) as moral damages compensation from BYD and the two other companies. Additionally, the companies are required to provide individual compensation for the Chinese workers they employed.
Prosecutors also demand that these companies comply with various labor regulations and face fines of 50,000 reais (about 8,800 dollars) per violation, multiplied by the number of affected workers for each offense.
In December 2024, Brazilian authorities halted the construction of BYD’s electric car factory due to the discovery that 220 Chinese workers employed by BYD’s contractor were working under conditions described as “akin to slavery”.
The prosecutors claim that these Chinese workers are victims of international human trafficking.
According to BBC reports, the factory was originally scheduled to start operations in March 2025, becoming BYD’s first electric car factory outside of Asia.
Brazilian labor inspector Liane Durao stated that in Brazil, conditions “akin to slavery” include forced labor, debt bondage, degrading working conditions, long hours posing health risks to workers, and any work that violates human dignity.
Durao mentioned in a press conference in December last year, “We found… the working conditions of these Chinese workers are akin to slavery. The work environment did not meet the minimum safety standards.”
She also revealed that these Chinese workers needed permission to leave their accommodations, with at least 107 passports being withheld by the employer, dangerous conditions at the workplace, and excessively long working hours.