Transport workers unions in New Zealand and Australia are calling on their governments to put Fiji on notice after police launched investigations into alleged human trafficking by one of the largest shipping companies in the country.
About 20 Filipinos claim they were brought to Fiji on false promises by Goundar Shipping Limited and made to work seven days a week in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
The unions say by not enforcing the seafarers' contracts the Fiji government has failed to protect and uphold their basic human rights exposing them to exploitation in Fiji - some for almost three years as Christine Rovoi reports.
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The offices of Fiji inter-island ferry company Goundar Shipping in Suva. Photo: RNZ / Jamie Tahana