Violations of agricultural workers’ rights in Cameroon’s sugar industry denounced at the UN

JOINT PRESS RELEASE
CETIM – STRASCAS
14 July 2026

The Union of Seasonal Workers in the Haute Sanaga Sugar Cane Industry (STRASCAS) announces that, with the support of CETIM¹, a complaint has been filed with several UN human rights protection mechanisms to address human rights violations committed against agricultural workers in Cameroon’s sugar industry, primarily seasonal workers. These violations of fundamental rights have been reported in connection with the operations of the Société Sucrière du Cameroun (SOSUCAM), a subsidiary of the French multinational SOMDIA (Castel Group).

The STRASCAS initiative highlights a situation marked by violations of the right to work in safe conditions, the right to freedom of association and peaceful assembly, as well as infringements on the trade union rights of seasonal workers. These workers carry out their work under conditions of extreme vulnerability, due not only to the arduous nature of agricultural labor on sugarcane plantations but also to increased exposure to various physical hazards without adequate protection. In particular, they are at risk of injuries, burns, and contamination from the chemicals used on the plantations.

The complaint also condemns the way in which SOSUCAM and its parent company, the CASTEL Group, exploit the seasonal worker status to prevent the overwhelming majority of their workers from organizing and demanding better working conditions.

This referral also highlights the central importance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, which now serves as an international framework for protecting the rights of agricultural workers. The Declaration provides a holistic understanding of the human rights violations suffered by these people, by recognising the interdependence between the right to safe and dignified working conditions, freedom of association, access to justice and the right to a decent standard of living.

Through this complaint, STRASCAS and CETIM are calling on the Cameroonian and French authorities to fulfill their respective human rights obligations. Independent investigations are imperative. The French authorities, as the host country of the parent company that controls the sugar subsidiary SOSUCAM, must ensure that the CASTEL Group is held accountable and required to report on its actions.

Stop the violations and repression of Cameroonian workers’ union rights!

Contact
Raffaele Morgantini, CETIM Representative to the UN, raffaele@cetim.ch, +41796606514