Forced labour, violence, sexual harassment and dire health conditions suffered by farmworkers in Chiapas is continuing unchecked because government officials are failing to enforce new employment laws on corporate offenders, human rights experts say.

New research by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre shows how agricultural workers and their children are being left to live in squalid conditions and fall victim to abuse by company employees despite protections enshrined in labour reforms enacted last year.

As regional leaders gather in São Paulo for the UN Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Resource Centre is demanding more action to protect workers and their families in sugarcane, coffee and cocoa plantations in Chiapas.

The call for government action comes as the Resource Centre publishes a new report – Bitter truth: Migrant worker abuse in the production of sugar, cocoa and coffee in Chiapas.

The hard-hitting report shines a light into the previously shrouded lives of thousands of agricultural workers in Chiapas revealing how they face harsh working conditions and a range of abuses including:

• Forced labour, child labour and modern slavery
• Harassment and violence especially towards women
• Excessive hours, low pay and insufficient food
• Lack of access to healthcare or social benefits
• Overcrowded and unsanitary housing
• Illnessess linked to unsafe use of agrochemicals

Research into the coffee, cocoa and sugar industries reveals they are dominated by a small number of companies and highlights a huge gap between public stated policies respecting human rights and action on the ground to stamp out abuses. It found that:

• Sugar exports in Chiapas are dominated by Zucarmex and Grupo Porres, S.A. de C.V. , neither of which have publicly available human rights due diligence policies.
• Leading local coffee and cocoa exporters are subsidiaries of German group Neumann Gruppe GmbH and Swiss multinational Ecom Agroindustrial Trading Corp. Limited. Both have publicly committed to respecting human rights in supply chains and publish due diligence policies, yet labour rights abuses continue to take place.
• Major companies in all three sectors have made public commitments to sustainability yet fail to publish information on renewable energy transition or climate crisis mitigation measures in the region.

Helene Saadoun, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean researcher at the Resource Centre said: “The Mexican government’s failure to enforce its own labour laws is leaving thousands of farm workers and their families vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and violence. The 2024 labour reforms were a critical step forward, but without proper implementation, they remain empty promises. Urgent action is needed to ensure protections are not just on paper but a reality in the fields of Chiapas.

“Farm owners and the global corporations that source from them must also step up. “They have a responsibility to ensure that the workers whose labour creates their vast profits are treated with dignity and fairness. Governments, civil society, businesses, and investors must work together to eradicate forced labour and abuse from supply chains. Anything less is a failure of leadership and a betrayal of fundamental human rights.”

Given this situation, Governments must strengthen oversight, companies must commit to a just transition with real protections for migrant workers, and major corporations must provide full transparency and accountability for their supply chains

To read Bitter truth: Migrant worker abuse in the production of sugar, cocoa and coffee in Chiapas click here

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For more information or to arrange an interview or briefing, please contact Anil Dawar: dawar@business-humanrights.org | +44 7766 317 434

Notes to editors

Methodology: The Resource Centre analysed publicly reported cases of abuse affecting migrant workers in the region. It also collaborated with Empower to conduct a corporate mapping to identify major coffee, cocoa and sugarcane exporters and the companies supplied. Official information from 2018 to 2023 was reviewed from the Government of Chiapas, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Panjiva platform and Mexican certification bodies.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts of companies across the globe.

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/