593 workers rescued from slave labor conditions in Brazil between July and August

Published at: 31/08/2024 09:58 PM

The rescue by public bodies of 593 people who worked in conditions analogous to slavery, including a 94-year-old woman and 16 minors, has had an impact on Brazil and presents a warning of the vulnerability of some sectors that take advantage of the situation of defenselessness and vulnerability of workers.

“During July and August 2024, Operation Rescue IV removed 593 workers from contemporary slave labor conditions. The number is 11.65 percent higher than that of those rescued in the operation carried out in 2023,” the Ministry of Labor said in a note published by Prensa Latina.

The 94-year-old woman had been working as a domestic worker for 64 years in a house in the state of Mato Grosso (midwest).

Other rescues occurred on farms dedicated to onion cultivation, horticulture, coffee and garlic.

Those who were redeemed in urban areas sweated in civil construction, in clinics for drug addicts and restaurants.

In a coal factory in Mato Grosso do Sul, 13 Paraguayan immigrants were rescued and at a ranch in Rio Grande do Sul, four Argentines were released, forced to work in the eucalyptus plantation.

From 1995, when special mobile enforcement groups were created, until 2022, more than 60,000 people were removed from work analogous to slavery.

According to experts, slave labor causes irreparable harm to those who are victims of this transgression, since they work exhausting days that generally involve a lot of physical effort and the absence of periodic breaks.

Many of the victims suffer and their lives are spent in accommodations with precarious, even unhealthy conditions, which lead to the development of physical trauma, injuries and serious illnesses to the body.

Added to this is the loss of individual freedom and submission to despicable situations, which lead to the total alienation of the worker from outside life, from his family and even from his own identity, causing serious mental health problems.

Mazo News Team