North Korean labourer takes Dutch shipbuilder to court over claims of ‘slave-like’ working conditions
- The legal action could pile pressure on other companies in the Netherlands and beyond that profit from modern slavery in their global operations
- Claimant says he endured 12-hour working days in unsafe conditions and had much of his earnings seized by the North Korean government
A North Korean labourer has filed a landmark criminal complaint against a Dutch shipbuilding company that allegedly profited from the abuse of workers in its supply chain in Poland and was aware of the “slave-like conditions”, lawyers said on Thursday.
A law firm representing the worker – who has not been named for his safety – has asked the Netherlands’ public prosecutor to file a case against a shipbuilder it says knowingly benefited by buying items that were cheaper because of the use of forced labour.
This opens the possibility to hold companies accountable which are not direct perpetrators in the labour exploitation, but which nonetheless knowingly profit
The legal action could pile pressure on other companies in the Netherlands and beyond that profit from modern slavery in their global operations, according to lawyers and activists.
“Dutch law offers a unique provision which criminalises the act of profiting from exploitation,” said Barbara van Straaten, a lawyer with Prakken d’Oliveira, a law firm in the Netherlands that specialises in human rights cases and filed the complaint.
“This opens the possibility to hold companies accountable which are not direct perpetrators in the labour exploitation, but which nonetheless knowingly profit,” van Straaten said.
The Dutch shipbuilder, which is not being named to avoid undermining a possible prosecution, employed Polish shipyard Crist SA despite knowing it subjected workers to “inhumane, slave-like conditions” to lower costs, the complaint alleged.
