Emirates Airline has denied claims headphones distributed on its flights were made by abused Chinese inmates.
New Zealand man Danny Cancian told the Australian Financial Review (AFR) he witnessed the inmates being forced to make the headphones for $1.30 per month while he also was in Dongguan Prison last year.
Prisoners were abused and sometimes tasered by guards if they did not meet set targets for the number of headphone sets to be made, he claimed.
Cancian said the headphones were made for a supplier called Dongguan City Joystar Electronic Co, which used the prison for large labour orders. They were then provided to Emirates, its Australian partner Qantas and British Airways, the AFR claimed.
Qantas said in a statement that it was concerned about the allegations and had launched an investigation. The supplier had been temporarily suspended, the company said.
However, Emirates and British Airways quickly denied the allegations entirely.
Emirates said there were no unethical practices in its supply chain.
An Emirates spokesperson said: “Emirates’ headsets are manufactured by an industry leading company that supplies over 200 airlines around the world. Emirates has had a long relationship with this supplier and is satisfied that there is no evidence of any unethical practices in the headset manufacturing process.”
In a statement, BA added: “Our supplier has made it abundantly clear that it has never used prisons in China to produce any BA headsets.”
The prisoners also claimed they had made parts for other international companies, Cancian said.
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