Letter: Government must act violation of rights

I was wrong in expecting our Government to intervene on behalf of the Chinese nationals who are being exploited like slaves within our own country.

I was briefly misled by the fact that our nation is a member of the ILO which emphasizes not only international labour standards, but human rights as well.

However our own Labour Minister almost justified the insanity by pointing out that Trinidadian farmers are working under similar conditions in Canada.

So if our Government is nonchalant about our own citizens being exploited, how can we expect them to care for nationals of another country?

As long as there are individuals being treated in subhuman conditions in other parts of the world, it is acceptable to condone the same violation of human rights here?

We are all human beings even before we fall under the labels of "Chinese" or "Trinidadian".

We should never be complacent towards the suffering of others and we should never hesitate to help those who cannot help themselves.

As Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

Hema Bedasie | Barataria (via email)