A 6-year-old girl found a disturbing handwritten note in a Christmas card that claimed foreign prisoners were being forced to work in China

https://news.yahoo.com/6-old-girl-found-disturbing-201137284.html

Ellen Cranle
,Business Insider•December 22, 2019

Tesco, the massive UK-based grocery-store chain, has announced that it halted production at a factory in China over a claim that the factory used forced labor to produce Christmas cards.

Peter Humphrey broke the story at The Sunday Times that a 6-year-old girl in South London found a handwritten plea for help inside a Christmas card she bought from Tesco.

The front of the card was decorated with a kitten in a Santa hat, but the inside contained a disturbing message from someone claiming to be a prisoner who was forced to work.

"We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China," the message said in capital letters. "Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organization."

The girl's father, Ben Widdicombe, told the Associated Press that the family initially thought the note was a "prank." They soon realized it was legitimate, however, and contacted Humphrey, who was requested by name in the note. Humphrey as a corporate investigator was detained for several years in China in the same prison.

•••••