Government officials from Southwest China's Chongqing municipality are calling for the "fair treatment" of the migrant workers attacked by an armed mob on Friday in the Dongyuan County of Heyuan in Guangdong Province.

"Local authorities should investigate the incident thoroughly and objectively, and we sincerely hope they do all they can to protect the legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers," Liao Changxuan, director of the Shenzhen office of the Chongqing municipal government, said yesterday.

Liao's remarks came after a press conference held by the Guangdong provincial government in Dongyuan, which described the incident as "malignant group fighting," Liao said.

"It is too early and too rash to define the incident as malignant group fighting. The migrant workers were attacked and injured by armed thugs."

About 300 migrant workers with the Qiutian construction company, most of whom hail from Chongqing, were attacked by a group of henchmen allegedly recruited by Qiutian's contractor, Fuyuan Hydropower Development Company after they had gone on strike to demand their unpaid wages.

One worker remains in a critical condition and six others were seriously injured.

Fuyuan's security head Ye Dingfa and three of his colleagues were arrested for leading and inciting the attack.

Li Zhonggui, head of the Chongqing migrant workers' rights protection group said he was "frustrated" by the description of the incident.

"If it was really group fighting, why were the injured all migrant workers? ... We will take our frustrations to the Dongyuan police and we will not rest until the issue has been addressed," Li said.

The Chongqing federation of labor unions and its labor and social security bureau yesterday sent teams to Dongyuan to investigate the incident and protect the rights of the workers.

"The investigation team will assist the Guangdong labor and social security department and other bodies to work out a settlement once the investigation is finished," an official from Chongqing's labor and social security bureau, said.

(China Daily 07/04/2007 page4)