Brazil: Rescue Operation Releases People in Conditions Similar to Slavery

Federal Police of Brazil, Aug 2024 Photo: @DiarioHoy

August 29, 2024 Hour: 1:07 pm

A special operation of several Brazilian public bodies, which lasted 30 days, allowed the rescue of 593 people in conditions similar to slavery, among them an old woman of 94 years, 16 minors and 13 Paraguayan immigrants and four Argentines.

The fourth edition of the so-called Operation Rescue mobilized 23 teams, which carried out 125 inspections in the last month and managed to rescue 11.5% more people than last year, according to a balance sheet presented on Thursday by their leaders.

Among the rescued, a 94-year-old woman was forced to work as a domestic servant for 64 years in a residence in the state of Mato Grosso, making her the oldest person released from prison in Brazil.

The largest rescues were recorded in farms dedicated to onion cultivation, horticulture, coffee and garlic; while in urban areas, the activities with the greatest number of victims were civil construction, The clinics for chemical dependents and restaurants.

In the state of Pernambuco, a clinic for dependent chemists was discovered that had no employees and where 18 of its 64 patients were forced to perform administrative and domestic work.

In an operation at a coal mine in Mato Grosso do Sul, 13 Paraguayan immigrants were rescued, and four Argentine citizens who were forced to work in the eucalyptus cutting plant were released from a ranch in Rio Grande do Sul.

Since 1995, when Brazil acknowledged at the UN the persistence of so-called contemporary slave labor in the country, some 63,000 people have been rescued from this condition.