REPORTS that Zambians working for Chinese-owned companies are being quarantined under dehumanising conditions should be urgently addressed because they are a good recipe for tension between the Chinese community and locals.
Cries by Zambian workers that they are being quarantined in unconducive environments by their Chinese employers have become a daily occurrence and cannot be ignored by those in authority.
Prompt inspections by labour inspectors have in recent times not only justified the workers’ cries, but have brought to the fore glaring labour law breaches in some of the Chinese-owned companies amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The case of miners on the Copperbelt who were confined against their will under what they described as dehumanising conditions is just among many of such incidents.
Yes, not all Chinese companies are isolating their workers under terrible conditions, far from it. There are those who have gone flat out to quarantine their workers under good conditions and have even gone a step further to pay them for confining them.
But with the cries and accusations about abuses growing louder every day, there is urgent need to resolve this matter which seems to be degenerating into a race issue.
This should not be the case as Zambia and China have been all-weather friends from time immemorial and misunderstandings between Zambian workers and their Chinese employers should not be allowed to destroy this friendship.
Mutual respect between foreigners and locals is in this case the catch phrase but seems to be lacking in the prevailing scenario.
This is why we agree with calls by Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) executive director, Boniface Cheembe, for the rising tension to be quickly addressed before it’s too late.
Mr Cheembe’s concerns that allegations of abuses had triggered the “we vs them” dichotomy which in turn had manifested through anger in the locals, are not misplaced.
But this should not be the case.
Therefore, Mr Cheembe is also in order to appeal to the Chinese embassy play a very proactive role in ensuring Chinese nationals and companies acted within the confines of the Zambian labour laws to avoid conflicts.
While there is nothing wrong to quarantine workers in a good environment with their consent as a Covid-19 preventive measure, there is everything wrong to accuse Zambians of being responsible for spreading the virus.
If the accusations are truly happening, that is wrong and there is need for the Chinese employers to desist from making such stigmatising allegations against indigenous Zambians.
It’s common knowledge by now that Covid-19 knows no race, gender or creed but can be contracted by anybody if he or she ignores the health control measures that have been put in place.
Even those who have been so careful are on record to have contracted the virus, hence blaming workers for spreading the virus is unfair as the virus remains “unknown and slippery” even to scientists.
This is not the time to blame others but a time to unite to fight the disease which is presently the common enemy.
Foreign investors are more than welcome in the country provided they adhere to the laws of the land and are prepared to live in harmony with Zambians.
We, therefore, urge the relevant wings of Government to engage the Chinese embassy on these matter to end the seemingly simmering tension arising from alleged abuses of Zambians before the situation gets out of hand.
