India's tea firms urged to act on slave trafficking after girls freed

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2014/mar/01/tetley-tea-maids-real-price-cup-tea-video

Slave traders took girls as young as 11 from an Indian plantation that supplies tea to Tetley and sold them on to a life of abuse as domestic servants, an investigation has revealed.

The girls were taken from the Nahorani estate in Assam. Workers on the estate are paid 94 rupees (91p) a day – barely half the 169 rupee legal minimum wage for Assam. Anti-slavery campaigners say the low wages help traffickers to lure girls away with the promise of a better life elsewhere.

An Observer and Guardian investigation set out to track the traffickers from Assam to the national capital, Delhi. At least 21 people were rescued in a series of raids.

One young woman, 19-year-old Somila, was found with minutes to spare after she called her father – who was travelling with the documentary team – to say the traffickers were threatening to sell her into prostitution in Bombay.
Somila, who was bought by her final owners for £250, described how she had suffered serious abuse and spoke angrily about the traffickers who lured her from Nahorani. "They should realise that they cannot separate daughters from their parents and make us fools. They speak lies and make us fools. They cheat us," she said.

Tea companies promised action after the Observer first exposed the slave trade from Assam's tea estates last year, but little has changed. Kailash Satyarthi, founder of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan child rescue movement, which helped to free the girls, said companies had to take responsibility. "The owners of these international tea estates don't care for these people, they don't pay them minimum wages. Forget about the decent wages, they don't pay the survival wages," he said. "The reality is abuse, the reality is a kind of sexual exploitation, the reality is endless slavery," he said.

Nahorani is one of a group of 24 estates in Assam owned by Amalgamated Plantations. It is one of the world's richest companies, worth £60bn.

Tetley is the UK's most popular brand, and is ranked second in the US and the rest of the world. The company says 45m cups of Tetley are drunk in 70 countries worldwide every day. There is no suggestion that Tetley was aware of any slavery or trafficking. In its mission statement, Tetley insists: "We don't just do as we like. We do what's right for our tea drinkers, our team and our world. We believe our success must not be at the expense of the people or the environment that make that success possible."

The Ethical Tea Partnership's executive director, Sarah Roberts, said: "ETP and its members oppose all forms of abuse, discrimination, exploitation and manipulation of children and adults."

The managing director of Amalgamated Plantations, said the company had been unaware of the trafficking. "APPL is against any form of abuse on children and we will make every effort with external and government agencies who specialise in addressing child trafficking," he said.

The World Bank Group said human trafficking was a "tragic crime" and those who engaged in it should be brought to justice. It said it was troubled by the allegations and was investigating.


VOCABULARY
Slave traders: Traficantes de esclavos

Domestic servants: Servicio domestico

Barely: apenas

Campaigners: activistas

Lure: atraer

Rescue: Rescatar

Threat: amenaza

Fool: engañar, liar

Salve trade: comercio de esclavos

Wages: salarios

Brand: marca

Aware: darse cuenta

Allegation: acusación


SUMMARY
Poverty pay on tea estates in Assam fuels a modern slave trade ensnaring thousands of young girls. A Guardian/Observer investigation follows the slave route from an estate owned by a consortium, including the owners of the best-selling Tetley brand, through to the homes of Delhi's booming middle classes, exposing the reality of the 21st-century slave trade
By Daniel Cuevas and Joan Cases.