Chinese city closes problematic job agencies after slave labor scandal

Chinese city closes problematic job agencies after slave laborscandal

XI'AN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Xi'an, a major city in northwest China,has permanently closed job agencies around its railway station thatwere allegedly deceiving rural workers and sending them to work as"slaves" in illegal brick kilns in neighboring Shanxi Province.

The local authorities had instead set up a consultation center toprovide information for job-seekers, said Meng Zhe, director of Xi'anRailway Station Square Administration.

All the 13 job agencies around the railway station were operatingwithout licenses during an government inspection on Tuesday, saidMeng.

"We will not allow any other job agency to open near the railwaystation in future," he said.

The move in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, came after policearrested 168 people accused of keeping workers in appallingconditions at small brick kilns and mines in Shanxi and Henanprovinces.

By Saturday, 315 people -- including 22 aged under 18 -- had beenfreed after police raided more than 3,700 small brick kilns andcollieries in the coal-rich Shanxi, many of which were unlicensed.

Meanwhile, police in Henan had freed 217 forced laborers,including 29 juveniles and 10 mentally handicapped people.

Many of the rescued said they were deceived soon after getting offthe train and starting to look for jobs at job agencies aroundrailway stations, according to media reports.

The slave labor scandal hit the headlines after a "call for help"letter was posted on the Internet earlier this month by more than 400parents in Henan who believed their missing children had been sold tothe small brick kilns as slave workers.