More China brickwork slaves freed
By Dan Griffiths
BBC News, Beijing
Workers at the factory
Some 31 slaves were rescued at a brickworks last week
The Chinese authorities say they have freed another 200 people who had been trafficked to work as slaves at brickworks in northern China.
More than 460 people have been rescued in recent weeks from brick kilns in the central provinces of Henan and Shanxi.
The case has revealed the dark side of China's booming economy.
The story attracted widespread media coverage after parents of some of the children set up an online campaign to free them.
Inquiry called for
Hundreds of people, some of them children thought to be as young as eight years old, were kidnapped, held captive and forced to work long hours for no pay.
Many were beaten and starved.
The online campaign claims that about 1,000 children have been forced into slavery - many of whom are still in captivity.
Now Chinese President Hu Jintao and other senior politicians have called for an investigation into the scandal.
But the sad reality is that forced labour and human trafficking are common in rural parts of this vast country.
For the people caught up in this trade, China's rapid economic growth has brought nothing but misery.
