Close to the border with Switzerland Employees of restaurant in France crammed into screed

The operators of a Chinese restaurant in France - around 10 kilometers from the border with Switzerland - have been arrested. According to the public prosecutor's office, they are alleged to have housed eight illegal workers in undignified conditions on the floor.

Keystone-SDA

11.04.2025, 04:51

11.04.2025, 05:00

SDA

The French public prosecutor's office announced on Thursday that the couple, who come from China, face up to ten years in prison for illegal employment and poor living conditions for employees. According to the report, the employees of the Number Wok restaurant in Pontarlier came from the Philippines, Tibet, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and had neither a residence permit nor were they registered.

They were housed in chambers under the roof "without windows, without ventilation", some of which were only six square meters in size, explained the public prosecutor responsible. Some of the mattresses were on the floor, one of the accommodations had a toilet and in another the detainees were forced to "urinate in bottles".

Monitored by cameras

In the evening, the employees were locked in the building, which was located in an industrial estate - "guarded by the operator's mother, who lived in a large room on site" and monitored those affected with the help of cameras, according to the public prosecutor's office.

The authorities became aware of the restaurant during a border inspection. The police came across a pay slip that was very low for a restaurant open all year round with 200 seats, the public prosecutor added.