New Delhi, Sept. 12 -- A court in Johannesburg sentenced seven Chinese nationals on Wednesday to terms of 20 years in prison each for trafficking people from Malawi and forcing them to work at a factory in South Africa.

The group was convicted on Feb. 25 of trafficking 91 undocumented Malawian nationals from 2017 to 2019 to work at a cotton fabric factory in Village Deep, an industrial area in the south of Johannesburg.

The Chinese nationals had been arrested on Nov. 12, 2019 when police raided the factory and found the Malawians confined under inhumane conditions with armed guards controlling their movements. The factory had a high wall and razor fence.

Court records listed the defendants as Shu-Uei Tsao, 42; Biao Ma, 50; Hui Chen, 50...