‘Child slaves’ sue chocolate giants for forced labour in cocoa plantations

New York: Eight former cocoa plantation child labourers are suing seven chocolate giants for alleged complicity in trafficking and forced labour.

International Rights Advocates, a human rights group, said it has filed a federal class action lawsuit in Washington, DC, on behalf of the eight Malian citizens who say they were forced to work and received no pay.

IRA said the plaintiffs were trafficked as children and forced to harvest cocoa in Ivory Coast, the fruit’s biggest producer and exporter. The case is based on a law that allows victims to sue companies that participate in a venture that benefits from trafficking and forced labour.

Nestle, Hershey, Mars and Cargill are among the companies named in the suit.