Brasilia, Sept. 10, 2026 (Lusa) - An operation carried out by the Brazilian Government rescued 479 workers from conditions akin to slavery in August, including 75 women and 13 children and teenagers, as well as 66 migrants, some from Guinea-Bissau.
The figures, released on Wednesday by the country's Ministry of Labour and Employment, state that the victims included 66 migrants from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Venezuela, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.
Dubbed «Operation Rescue VI», the task force was supported by the Federal Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office for Labour Affairs (MPT), which carried out 231 enforcement operations.
The South-East region accounted for the highest number of rescued workers, with 267 cases, of which 208 occurred in Minas Gerais and 58 in São Paulo.
Among the cases is that of a 51-year-old woman in the city of São Paulo, who had been living in her employer's home since the age of 10 and had worked for around 40 years without formal registration or regular payment of wages.
Whilst still a child, she became responsible for all the household chores, «such as cleaning the garden and washing up, tidying the house, and looking after her employer's family, including preparing meals» and ironing clothes.
The tax inspectors also found that the same woman had worked at a clinic owned by one of the family members without any formal employment registration.
In the state of Minas Gerais, workers were rescued from conditions amounting to slavery on a farm during the potato harvest; most were from Senegal and Burkina Faso.
The labour inspectors found that the victims were working on the manual harvesting of potatoes without formal employment records, and without access to sanitary facilities, drinking water, personal protective equipment or a suitable place to eat.
«Irregularities were also identified in relation to working hours, the transport of workers and general health and safety conditions at work,» the statement said, without providing further details on the situation of the people from Guinea-Bissau.
Rural areas accounted for 57.5% of inspections and 292 workers rescued, whilst urban activities represented 36.5% of operations, with 178 rescues, and domestic work saw nine workers rescued.
Among the sectors where the most workers were found in conditions analogous to slavery were general construction, with 85 rescued; coffee cultivation, with 53; onion cultivation, with 47; and potato cultivation, with 44.
Employers were obliged to cease operations, terminate contracts and regularise employment relationships retrospectively, as well as pay over 1.4 million reais (around €236,100) in wages and severance pay.
According to the Brazilian Government, the workers also received special unemployment benefit, equivalent to six instalments of the minimum wage.
MYMA/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
