593 people rescued in Brazil from slavery-like situations

Brasilia. Brazilian government agencies have rescued 593 people working in slavery-like conditions in the past 30 days, including a 94-year-old woman and 16 minors, the government said Thursday.

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

The 94-year-old woman has worked as a domestic for 64 years in a home in the state of Mato Grosso (central-west).

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

Those who were rescued in urban areas sweated in construction, in clinics for chemical addicts and in restaurants.

Thirteen Paraguayan immigrants were rescued at a coal mine in Mato Grosso do Sul, and four Argentines forced to work in eucalyptus felling were freed at a ranch in Rio Grande do Sul.

Since 1995, when the special mobile inspection groups were created, until 2022, more than 60 thousand people have been removed from work analogous to slavery.

Subjecting someone to any despicable task is considered a crime in Brazil.

The punishment is two to eight years of imprisonment and a fine, with aggravating circumstances provided for in article 149 of the Penal Code.

According to experts, slave labor causes irreparable damage to those who are victims of this transgression, since they work long hours that generally involve a lot of physical effort and the absence of regular breaks.

Many of the victims suffer and live in precarious and even unhealthy accommodation conditions, which lead to the development of physical trauma, injuries and serious illnesses.

Added to this is the loss of individual freedom and submission to despicable situations that 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.

The chains of slavery not only bind the hands of thousands of people in the South American giant, but their links also distort the perception of vile employers who currently oppress human beings marked by the experience of living in fear.