Number of occurrences confirmed by work auditors was the highest since 2009; rural areas still lead cases
Brazil counted 3,151 workers rescued from conditions similar to slavery in 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Labor. The number is the highest since 2009, when 3,765 people were rescued. In total, around 63,400 people have been caught in situations similar to slavery since the creation of mobile inspection groups in 1995.
Field work still leads the number of rescues. The activity with the highest number of freed workers was coffee cultivation, with 300 people freed, followed by sugarcane planting (258 workers).
Among the States, they lead:
- Goiás – 735 cases;
- Minas Gerais – 643 cases;
- São Paulo – 387 cases;
- Rio Grande do Sul – 333 cases.
In addition to the statistics, reports of abuse in the fields and cities show how work similar to slavery is still recurrent in Brazil. In makeshift factories, in high-end homes, on plantations, crimes continue to be committed.
“It was 30 years without earning a salary. It even got to the point where she didn't want to let me eat or drink coffee anymore. I could only go to my room late at night, I couldn’t talk to anyone else.”said an elderly worker rescued in March 2023. She ended up dying of cardiorespiratory arrest before receiving compensation.
MISSING AUDITORS
Despite this increase in total worker rescues in 2023, the number of labor tax auditors is at its lowest level in 30 years.
The Ministry of Labor and Employment recognizes the lack of personnel. Roque Renato Pattussi, project coordinator at the Migrant Pastoral Support Center, states that the government still managed to increase the number of rescues by prioritizing the activity.
“It is a priority for the Labor Inspection Secretariat to monitor, in a broad sense, domestic work and, specifically, cases of domestic slave labor. We have less than 2,000 active labor tax auditors. This is the lowest number since the career was created in 1994. Even so, we managed to deliver the largest number of tax actions”.
With information from Brazil Agency
#people #rescued #slavelike #work
