(Clearwisdom.net) Since July 2001, Longshan Labor Camp officials have forced Falun Gong practitioners to make candles in various colors (other inmates are also forced to do the work). The candles are exported and the labor camp makes big profits from the cheap labor.

Longshan Labor Camp received its first order for the wax-processing job in mid July 2001. The elderly and weak Falun Gong practitioners were forced to make plastic packing boxes for the candles in their monitored rooms. The majority of Falun Gong practitioners were taken to a big hall near the entrance of the labor camp to process and to pack the candles. Over a dozen colors were used, and each of them gave off a strong smell of toxic chemicals. After a day's work, practitioners are covered with wax crumbs and their clothes smell like the chemicals. Many practitioners were pale, became dizzy and sick and lost their appetite from inhaling the fumes.

About 100 people are forced to do this work on a daily basis. The common inmates can finish 80 to 90 boxes per person per day if done at a fast speed.

The transparent glue used for sealing the box is toxic. Since one has to use the fingers to press and seal, practitioners' fingers often stick to the box. Sometimes this makes the skin peel off and stick on the box.

Initially, the daily work hours were from 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. But later on, the guards said that the containers were waiting to be filled for delivery. So sometimes the work hours were extended to past midnight or even around 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 a.m. Later, when there was not enough room in the big hall, they moved the production line to the narrow hallways between the monitored rooms. The monitored rooms were already poorly ventilated. Now, not only were the monitored rooms full of chemical odors, but the hallways as well. The long work hours and the toxic fumes made Falun Gong practitioners dizzy and weak all over. For example, a practitioner named Ning in the 1^st brigade returned from the big hall and felt dizzy and weak. He lay on a bed and could not get up. Once, an elderly Falun Gong practitioner turned pale and had to be helped back from the wax-processing hall.

Apart from the slave labor products mentioned above, Longshan Labor Camp also assembles/manufactures holiday decorations such as snowmen and snow flakes, etc. In addition, they also make shoe soles and sew overcoats, etc. The work hours for these products are even longer and the labor is more intense.

2004-2-17