Police stem south China riots but migrant workers anger runs deep

Migrant worker Yu Ankun inside a small family-run factory June 14, 2011, where he works making jeans. ? Reuters pic

ZENGCHENG, China, June 14 ? Chinese riot police restored a semblance of calm to the riot-torn southern Chinese city of Zengcheng today, but the anger of migrant workers at being discriminated against by the authorities remained palpable in this key export hub. Migrant workers, mostly from south-western Sichuan province, went on a rampage over the weekend, angered by the mistreatment of a pregnant stall holder by security guards.

What passes off as a factory in the garment-making village of Dadun, part of the township of Xintang in Zengcheng. ? Reuters pic

The mob wrecked the government office in the city?s Dadun suburb, setting alight at least six vehicles, including a police van. Parts of the iron gates and spiked fence lay twisted and broken.

?We?re angry,? said a migrant worker from Sichuan who was nervous about revealing his name given the massive deployment of riot police in front of the government office. ?I feel the rule of law here doesn?t seem to exist . . . the local officials can do what they want.?

Zengcheng city is about an hour?s drive from Guangzhou, the affluent capital of far southern Guangdong province, which is a pillar of China?s export sector. According to the latest statistics, China has about 145 million workers who have moved from their homes in the countryside to the city, seeking a better standard of living.

But although their wages have improved in recent years, there remains a stark income gap between migrant workers and those who originally hail from the city, which has fomented resentment.

In addition to the Zengcheng protest, other clashes have erupted in southern China in recent weeks, including in Chaozhou, where hundreds of migrant workers demanding payment of their wages at a ceramics factory attacked government buildings and set vehicles ablaze.

Zengcheng, surrounded on all sides by a warren of tenement blocks and small jeans factories where the migrant workers live and work, has morphed over the years into a vibrant export hub for garments. More than half of the city?s population of 800,000 are migrant workers, many of them from Sichuan.

Migrant workers work in a small family-run factory where they also live. ? Reuters pic

Like millions of other migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta, the workers at Zengcheng say their already grim lives have become worse over the past year due to rampant inflation and discrimination from authorities.

?We sometimes only earn several hundred yuan a month because we?re paid per garment,? said a middle-aged woman from Sichuan as she stitched a pile of black denim shorts. ?There tend to be less orders in the first half of the year.?

The migrants are often treated as unwelcome ?interlopers? whose legal rights and social needs are often ignored.

Mo Baiyong, a migrant worker from western Guangdong with two children and a wife to support, says life has become harder after food prices, and the rent of his one-room unit, have spiked.

Pork, a staple for many migrant workers, had increased from about 9 yuan to 13 yuan (RM4.15 to RM6)for half a kilogram over the past year, said Yu Ankun, who is also from Sichuan.

?We have no choice, we just have to make a living,? he said in a grimy jeans factory where he was printing labels for a local brand. ?We can?t go home.? ? Reuters

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tmi/news/allnews/~3/G01Ag2s2Fos/story01.htm

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