Workers’ rights groups in the manufacturing hub of Shenzhen are being forcibly evicted from their offices, scholars have said in an open letter, urging an end to the crackdown.
About 10 groups that offer help to the millions of migrant workers living and working in Shenzhen have reported random inspections and evictions, some of which turned violent, said the letter seen by AFP on Monday.
“Police have failed to prevent labour organisations from being evicted from their offices for unknown reasons, sometimes even violently,” said the letter signed by 20 scholars and sent to the city and provincial governments Sunday.
The Dagongzhe Migrant Worker Centre was one of the first to be caught in the crackdown, with workers evicted from their offices in July after the water and electricity supply to their office was shut off by local authorities.
Another, the Hand in Hand Workers’ Home, was evicted from its offices on Sunday, while local government staff confiscated property belonging to a group called The Little Grass Workers’ Home last month, staff there said.
Both groups provided services including safety training, legal assistance and psychological counselling to factory workers in the city, whose vast factories are a magnet for workers across the mainland.