00:0180 people live packed into cramped quarters in this rundown house.
00:06They report having their passports confiscated and enduring physical violence.
00:10One time a Chinese woman attacked one from our friend physically.
00:17Foreign workers like Abba Noob from Egypt are the alleged victims of human trafficking in Chinese-run firms in Serbia.
00:26When you treat people like goods, that's slavery.
00:32We want to learn how this system of exploitation works, and we follow the firm's supply chains.
00:38Are there products even found in German cars?
00:44We're in the city of Sjabac in Western Serbia.
00:50An insider, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells us that many foreign workers employed in Chinese factories in the region
00:57live in difficult conditions.
01:03When we arrive, it's not long before we meet some workers at their accommodation.
01:09Good morning.
01:11Excuse me.
01:13Hello?
01:16Somebody at home?
01:18Nice to meet you.
01:19Nice to meet you.
01:21Where are you from?
01:22Bangladesh.
01:23Bangladesh.
01:24How many of your friends' callings are here?
01:27Around 30 or 40 people.
01:30In this house?
01:32Yes, it's too crowded.
01:36We look around the house.
01:40Some rooms sleep up to eight people.
01:45There's trash everywhere.
01:47It smells awful and it's hard to breathe.
01:50The house is clearly being left to fall to ruin.
01:55Our informant tells us she's seen much worse housing.
02:01This is like night and day compared to the housing where some Egyptian workers are staying.
02:06I've seen it myself.
02:09In one house there was no water, sometimes for two or three days at a time.
02:13You couldn't even take a shower.
02:17Abba Noob from Egypt knows that house well.
02:21He stayed there himself for some time.
02:24Now he's found shelter in an accommodation for victims of human trafficking.
02:28Until 2025 he worked for Mint, a Chinese automotive supplier at a plant in Western Serbia.
02:35To get the job he had to pay a recruiter nearly 3,000 euros and sign a contract he didn't
02:40understand.
02:41We don't know what happened inside this contract because this was in Serbian language.
02:49And when we asked them to take food or translate this, he refused.
02:55Foreign workers are often not hired directly by the factories,
02:59but are contracted through staffing agencies.
03:03Abba Noob's contract promised regular working hours, a minimum wage and paid overtime.
03:09But he says he and his colleagues work 12 hour shifts, seven days a week,
03:14for a fixed monthly salary of 750 euros.
03:17The first six months was a lot of time police come to check in Mint
03:22and the agency asked us to, you must leave now.
03:27You can't continue work today because police check.
03:32Why we don't come here like runaway or something like this.
03:39Tara has set up accommodation on her property for victims of human trafficking.
03:44Abba Noob contacted her after quitting his job at Mint.
03:48She says she's helped hundreds of workers from Asia and Africa.
03:52Many had worked for Mint or the Chinese tire manufacturer Ling Long.
03:59We're talking about real human trafficking.
04:04You can order all the workers you need on websites, as if they're goods for sale.
04:13But when you treat people like goods, that's slavery.
04:21The names of the agencies change regularly in the documents Abba Noob shows us.
04:26But the name of a Chinese businesswoman appears again and again.
04:31We try to contact her and drive to the address where one of her current companies is registered.
04:39But we find neither her name nor that of the company.
04:46Do you know if there's an employment agency here?
04:51No, not that I know of. Not here.
04:55But we managed to obtain the number of a former agency employee who handled contractual matters.
05:03I was barely involved. I only dealt with their visa paperwork.
05:10I don't think the owner is there right now. She's gone to Africa.
05:17Ling Long, the tire supplier, didn't respond to our questions,
05:21while Mint claimed they're not hiring workers through agencies.
05:28Mint does not currently use any employment models in Serbia under which workers are engaged by an external staffing agency.
05:37But in the spring of 2026, local media quoted several people who'd been employed by Mint through third-party agencies.
05:45So far, none of the official investigations have had any legal consequences.
05:51China has invested billions of euros in Serbia.
05:55Critics say that's why Serbia has turned a blind eye to the alleged abuses.
06:02It's all documented.
06:04And yet the Serbian authorities have done virtually nothing.
06:09No one has been prosecuted.
06:11And no one has been held accountable.
06:15Ultimately, the victims have never seen justice.
06:21These employers are clearly being protected by the state.
06:30Serbian authorities declined to comment on the allegations.
06:34Back in 2022, the United States criticized the working conditions of foreign workers at Ling Long in Serbia.
06:42In 2025, it even imposed an import ban on the company's products due to alleged forced labor.
06:49During our research, we came across company reports and supply chain documents.
06:54They show that numerous European car makers source parts from Ling Long and Mint plants in northern and western Serbia.
07:00These plants have been under scrutiny for years on suspicion of worker exploitation.
07:06One of the companies involved is the German automotive giant Volkswagen.
07:11Our inquiry received a brief written response from the manufacturer.
07:15We will not be making any comments or issuing any statements at this time.
07:21The affected workers in Chinese factories have few options.
07:25Either they put up with the conditions or they return home, often deeply in debt.
07:34Or they take an even greater risk and incur even more debt, paying to be smuggled into the European Union.
07:40In the EU, they hope to find what they were falsely promised in Serbia.
07:47All of us dream we have a new step to start a new life or something like this.
07:54But everyone says after I come here, it's better if I didn't come.
08:02Along with other victims, ABANUB now plans to form Serbia's first trade union for foreign workers.
08:08They say they already have more than 80 supporters and the number is growing.
08:13That gives them hope.
08:15To be continued...
08:16To be continued...
08:19To be continued...
