Rio de Janeiro, Feb 2 (IANS/EFE) Brazilian authorities Wednesday rescued 52 farm workers who were being held in slave-like conditions on three ranches in the Amazon state of Para, the government said.
Four of the workers were minors - a 15-year-old girl who worked as a cook and boys aged 13, 14 and 16 who cut wood or worked in the fields, the labor ministry said in a statement.
Workers were living with their children in seven canvas tents that had been erected on the rural properties.
The ministry imposed fines totalling 168,900 reais ($97,630), which the ranch owners are to pay to the workers.
Brazilian authorities last year rescued 2,271 workers subjected to degrading conditions in 158 operations, meting out a total of 5.4 million reais ($3.1 million) in fines.
The government also maintains a "black list" of 294 companies that have been denounced for holding workers in slave-like conditions.
The list is publicly available and prevents those companies from applying for loans at public-sector banks.
Several industries and exporters' and supermarket associations also use the list to crack down on the sale of products from companies that use slave labour.
Four of the workers were minors - a 15-year-old girl who worked as a cook and boys aged 13, 14 and 16 who cut wood or worked in the fields, the labor ministry said in a statement.
Workers were living with their children in seven canvas tents that had been erected on the rural properties.
The ministry imposed fines totalling 168,900 reais ($97,630), which the ranch owners are to pay to the workers.
Brazilian authorities last year rescued 2,271 workers subjected to degrading conditions in 158 operations, meting out a total of 5.4 million reais ($3.1 million) in fines.
The government also maintains a "black list" of 294 companies that have been denounced for holding workers in slave-like conditions.
The list is publicly available and prevents those companies from applying for loans at public-sector banks.
Several industries and exporters' and supermarket associations also use the list to crack down on the sale of products from companies that use slave labour.
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