Those who make the iPhone live among rats and worms

This week was marked by a careful inspection of the working conditions of employees of a factoryFoxconn, in India. However, only the authorities had been able to go to the site for the moment, but not journalists. This is now done, sinceReuterssent its own teams there. And what they discovered there is chilling.

Indeed, it turns out that the employees' living spaces were on the one hand infested withrats, on the kitchen side, and on the other hand that some toilets were not connected to any water supply. Worse still: worms have been found in meal preparation ingredients. Perhaps this is the origin of afood poisoning that occurred a little earlier, in the same context as violently repressed protests.

Crowded dormitories

Some women working at Foxconn also claim to bepiled up by several dozen(from six to thirty people, according to testimonies) on the floor when it comes to sleeping, in the same room. Remember that current health risks are still very present on the peninsula, where a new wave of coronavirus contamination seems about to hit.

Not wishing to be identified for fear of reprisals, the victims also assure that many of them are victims ofallergiesor abdominal pain. Up to two hundred and fifty people are believed to have been poisoned by spoiled food. Apple, which is a major customer for Foxconn, the latter assembling its iPhones by the millions, has since chosen to put the complex in “probation“. This could mean that production will not resume in earnest until hygiene issues are resolved.

• Also read: Uighurs in forced labor for iPhones?

Apple reacts

Tim Cook's firm has finally chosen to speak out about the situation. Through a spokesperson, the company explains that the framework in which Foxconn workers operate does not “does not meet its requirements” and it is about to beresolved“quickly“. To do this, the two companies would think together to implement the best possible solutions.

In the state ofTamil Nadu, at least eleven square meters must be reserved for each worker, recallsReuters.