A TV news report on the exploitation of Bengla Deshi, Burmese, and Vietnamese workers in Malaysia and Nike’s hypocrisy is up for a prestigious “Every Human Has Rights” Award.
There ]’s a public vote, but there only five days left to vote; the deadline is midnight November 30.
During the summer 2008, Internews Europe invited mainstream and citizen journalists from around the world to participate in the competition for the Media Awards by submitting world and current affairs reports and stories illustrating one or several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
MIchael Duffy of Australia’s Channel 7 says of his TV news report
This story helped liberate 1,200 exploited workers. In the coming months it will help thousands. I travelled to Kepong, Malaysia on a tip-off that Nike’s teeshirt manufacturer was using forced foreign labour. We infiltrated the factory and gained access to the appalling living quarters. We discovered a form of modern-day slavery and abuse of human rights. In particular, contraventions of Article 4 of the UDHR, relating to slavery and servitude. But also Article 23 relating to just and favourable employment. This report shamed Nike into action. Nike has now released these workers as well as 7,700 others across Malaysia. It has returned recruitment fees and passports and has begun repatriating workers back to their home countries.
Click here to vote for the Channel 7 report or here to learn about all 30 nominees.
Filed under: Fair Trade, Low wage workers | Tagged: Every Human Has Rights Award, Malaysia, Nike, sweat shops, UDHR
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