by Eduardo Martino
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that there are currently at least 25.000 modern-day slaves in Brazil. However, people dealing directly with the problem believe this number could be much higher, given the difficulties to reach an accurate figure. It is mainly in the distant areas, near or in the Amazonian region, that this problem is mostly found. Even though the efforts made in Brazil to eradicate it have been praised by the ILO in 2005, there is still a long way to go to effectively rid the country of this plague.
Prisoners of Hope
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A farm producing charcoal at the border of the Amazon forest in Para state. The Brazilian Ministry of Labour is developing a pioneering activity to assign responsability for slavery cases in such farms to the pig-iron producers, as the charcoal is produced exclusively to supply these extremely profitable companies.