Chinese workers for Ramu Nico Management in Papua New Guinea experienced intense working conditions and isolation from the rest of society. Rank-and-file workers at Ramu lacked credible healthcare, had limited space for free speech and movement, and witnessed systematic corruption from management teams. Ramu also only offers lifetime employment and associated welfare benefits to its higher- and middle-level managers, leaving the majority of contract workers vulnerable to layoffs and personnel changes. One worker says most rank-and-file miners from China are at the bottom of Ramu’s hierarchy: Australian engineers at Ramu had privileges such as free movement, free speech, and complete legal protection from overwork, while Ramu’s management team had zero tolerance for protests and criticisms among Chinese miners. Chinese workers who protested were put in solitary confinement and threatened. When one of the workers fell ill after taking a mandatory COVID vaccine, he was denied proper medical treatment and had to pay for his own medical expenses.

A Chinese migrant worker at a Chinese-owned construction company in Papua New Guinea said management 'locked' the workers in their dormitories. Workers were given 'pig food', and physical violence and verbal harassment were occasionally used by the management team to control their workers.