The country that exports the largest amount of cashews is Vietnam. However, the means in which it has reached this goal has caused quite a controversy. Some of the workers shelling these cashews in factories are recovering drug addicts that are forced into labor as a type of "treatment." Approximately forty thousand drug users work at these "treatment" facilities at any given time. Drug use is not considered a criminal offense. So why are these people being treated like criminals? Human Rights Watch has interviewed men and women who were employed at these facilities. The workers revealed that they did not receive any type of help while at the facility. Instead they were forced into strenuous work, with occasionally being beaten or shocked with a baton. There salary ranged from $.75 to $7.50 a month and workers experience many health risks while shelling these cashews. The article states that, "the work is hazardous: cashew resins can cause itching and burning, and dust from the cashew skins can irritate the lungs." I believe that the proper equipment should be installed for these workers if this type if work is going to continue. However, I believe that it is against human rights for these people to be forced into these facilities and subject to health risks all for the sake of the cashew. A petition has been created demanding that snack companies in the United States provide where they get their cashews from. The deadline is set two days before National Cashew Day, November 22, 2011.
The conditions that these workers are forced under violates the law of work, under favorable conditions. There is not protective gear available for these workers. They are exposed to the resins that cause skin irritations. These facilities also break the law of protection against arbitrary arrest or detention. These workers are not willing to work six days a week set out to make $.75 a month. They also do not have high hopes to breathe in dust from the cashews that can be detrimental to their health. They are forced into these facilities disguised to help them recover from drug addiction. Forced labor not only breaks international law but it also breaks Vietnamese law. It is should not be tolerated in either instance and most certainly is not a substitute for quality rehabilitation for drug addicts. I am not saying that all cashews are produced in this type of environment. Regardless, these types of working conditions should not be tolerated. I guarantee you will think about where your cashews come from the next time you indulge yourself with the snack.
Do you believe that drug users should be forced to work in these "treatment" facilities, even if drug use is not a criminal offense in Vietnam. If you do, should working conditions be more favorable to insure the risk of health complications is minimal?
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/opinion/110930/vietnam-human-rights-forced-labor-cashew-nuts
The conditions that these workers are forced under violates the law of work, under favorable conditions. There is not protective gear available for these workers. They are exposed to the resins that cause skin irritations. These facilities also break the law of protection against arbitrary arrest or detention. These workers are not willing to work six days a week set out to make $.75 a month. They also do not have high hopes to breathe in dust from the cashews that can be detrimental to their health. They are forced into these facilities disguised to help them recover from drug addiction. Forced labor not only breaks international law but it also breaks Vietnamese law. It is should not be tolerated in either instance and most certainly is not a substitute for quality rehabilitation for drug addicts. I am not saying that all cashews are produced in this type of environment. Regardless, these types of working conditions should not be tolerated. I guarantee you will think about where your cashews come from the next time you indulge yourself with the snack.
Do you believe that drug users should be forced to work in these "treatment" facilities, even if drug use is not a criminal offense in Vietnam. If you do, should working conditions be more favorable to insure the risk of health complications is minimal?
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/opinion/110930/vietnam-human-rights-forced-labor-cashew-nuts
I think this entire story is a travesty. Stories of Vietnamese drug centers just keep surfacing. People are being tortured in these centers and placed in solitary confinement. And to make it all worse, these centers are largely profiting off US, UN, and Australian funding. I think the saddest part about this story is that those who are running the centers have forgotten that the individuals there are people. Purchasing a little protective equipment would save countless lives. Yet, these users' lives are not worth the 50 cent masks that would save them. I'll never understand how a person can decide that a profit is worth more than a life.
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