OPERATION RESCUE

THE LARGEST OPERATION TO COMBAT FORCED LABOR IN BRAZIL

Abstract

Multi institutional action in combating work analogous to slavery has been a hallmark of the Labor Inspection for 26 years in Brazil, ever since the Special Mobile Inspection Group (GEFM) was created, coordinated by Labor Inspectors. In January 2021, Operation Rescue took place, the largest task force ever carried out in the country with the purpose of rescuing workers in conditions of contemporary slavery. Despite of replicating GEFM's good practice in a way never before seen, Operation Rescue made possible a new perception of the phenomenon of modern forms of slavery in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. The joint and simultaneous action in many places of the country revealed, in an unprecedented way, the diversity of workers who are victims of contemporary slavery, although under the same prism of social vulnerability, and the similarity of the cases found, especially due to the degrading working conditions.