Slavery-like Work Conditions
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug. 29 (EFE) –
A 30-day special operation by Brazilian authorities resulted in the rescue of 593 people in slavery-like conditions, including a 94-year-old woman, 16 minors and 17 immigrants, officials said Thursday.
This Operation Rescue is the fourth in as many years. It mobilized 23 teams that conducted 125 inspections and rescued 11.5% more people than in 2023, according to the report.
Among those rescued, was a 94-year-old woman who had been forced to work for 64 years as a housekeeper in the central state of Mato Grosso.
Most victims were rescued from agricultural farms dedicated to onions, vegetables, coffee, and garlic.
In urban areas, the industries with the highest number of victims were construction, drug treatment clinics, and restaurants.
A rehabilitation center in the state of Pernambuco was found to have no staff, while 18 of its 64 patients were forced to perform administrative and domestic work.
In Mato Grosso do Sul, 13 Paraguayan immigrants were rescued from a charcoal factory, and in Rio Grande do Sul, four Argentine immigrants forced to work in eucalyptus logging were freed from a ranch.
Since 1995, when Brazil acknowledged before the United Nations the existence of so-called modern slave labor in the country, some 63,000 people have been rescued.
In a press conference, the head of the Federal Police’s Department for the Fight against Forced Labor, Henrique Oliveira Santos, said that since 1995, inspections have been carried out routinely by each institution, but joint operations are always more effective. EFE
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