“They kept me chained up, they didn’t care about me or give me any food…They sold us like animals, but we are not animals – we are human beings.”
This heart-wrenching quote is from a man sold from ship to ship in Thailand, caught in the trap of slavery and forced to work on a boat that supplies feed to the prawns we buy at the grocery store.
The three largest grocers in the world — Walmart, Carrefour, and Costco — were named specifically in a new investigation by the Guardian for selling prawns and shrimp whose production relies upon slave labor. One week later,those companies are still refusing to take two simple steps to rout out slavery from their supply chains — and that’s where we come in.
Human rights activists are demanding Walmart, Carrefour and Costco join Project Issara, a Thai-based initiative to end modern slavery, as well as institute a zero tolerance policy on slavery based on conditions on the ground. Before the spotlight of the Guardian expose fades, let’s raise our voices to speak out against slavery in the prawn industry.
Read more at the SumOfUs website. While there, sign the petition to tell Costco, Walmart, and Carrefour to take concrete actions to end slavery in their supply chains.