MALAYSIA TOP MOST PALM OIL SUPPLIER KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG ARE ACCUSED OF FORCED LABOR CHILD LABOR BEATEN GETTING SICK WORKERS NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE WITHOUT PERMISSION WITHHOLDING PAY TO BE PAID AFTER TWO YEARS CONTRACT PERIODS AND THESE ARE NOT ONLY ABUSES IN PALM OIL INDUSTRY BUT THOUSANDS OF THEM FACE MISTREATMENT WHICH EMPLOYS 3.7 MILLION WORKERS 16th August 2013 Recent investigations have found that elements in the supply chain of Malaysian palm oil supplier Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) are guilty of serious human rights violations. Forced labor, child labor, withheld pay, and fraud were all recently committed at a plantation owned by a KLK shareholder. This is only one incident among hundreds concerning human rights abuses in the palm oil industry, which employs 3.7 million workers, thousands of whom face mistreatment. One worker from Indonesia describes how he was lured – alongside other recruits, some of whom were only just teenagers – to a plantation thousands of miles from his home with the promise of $6 a day (about minimum wage). Upon arrival, he and other workers were forbidden to leave without permission and their wage was dropped to $5, to be withheld for two years until the completion of their contract. Others were malnourished, sickened by the toxic herbicide Paraquat, or beaten for trying to escape. Despite such abuses, KLK is “certified sustainable” by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a stakeholder association created to advance the sustainable production of palm oil. For a grower to qualify for certification, their product must be assessed by disinterested parties as having come from “legal, economically viable, environmentally appropriate, and socially beneficial management and operations.” A new revision adds, free from “forms of forced or trafficked labor.” While the RSPO is an admirable association with growing weight in the industry, it’s clear that their criteria for inclusion is not stringent enough. NGOs across the globe, including Greenpeace, WWF, and the Rainforest Action Network agree that more needs to be done. RSPO does not require members to be certified, and only 35 percent of growers are. They have yet to suspend a member for disregarding their criteria.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 01:43:22 +0000
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