The Case of Vietnamese Workers in Linglong – How Human Rights and Freedom of the Press Have Been Systematically Destroyed.

Perc, Ivana Gordić

The case of 500 Vietnamese workers, the suspected victims of human trafficking in the Linglong factory in Zrenjanin (Serbia), is a consequence of corruption involved at all levels of public administration. Since its beginning, the bilateral contract between Serbia and China has ignored all local, provincial and national laws and procedures. The Chinese investment within the “Belt and Road Initiative” raises urgent questions on human rights, freedom of media and the collusion of criminals with public authorities. The difference to other investments is that this one received full media attention. Even now, nine months later, we still do not know anything about the fate of the workers who were injured or died at the construction site. There are no answers by Serbian institutions to many questions asked by activists and journalists. The Serbian government also remains silent on documents and appeals submitted by the European Parliament, State Department and United Nation’s Representatives. It seems that we will never know how many moral, ecological and legal standards were evaded and/or breached at the construction site of the Linglong factory in Zrenjanin.

Südosteuropa-Mitteilungen, 2022, Issue 4, p59

0340-174X

Academic Journal