Brazilian Air Force hangar was being built by hungry slaves - authorities

[Judi Lynn]

by Fabio Teixeira | @ffctt | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Thursday, 3 December 2020 18:31 GMT

Workers slept on the floor and ate ants while building a hangar for Anapolis air force base
By Fabio Teixeira

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Seven workers have been rescued from slavery-like conditions where they slept on the floor and ate ants while building a hangar for the Brazilian Air Force, labour authorities said.

The men had been hired by Shox do Brasil Construcoes, which was contracted by the air force to build a R$ 15 million ($2.9 million) hangar at Anapolis, one of Brazil's most important bases as it protects the nearby capital, Brasilia.

Shox's lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The company said on its website that it "has developed with its employees a culture of working safely and responsibly" and that it also had public works contracts at Brasilia airport and the northern port of Belem.

The workers were living in a house outside the air force base that had no furniture, "fetid" bathrooms and garbage accumulating in rooms, said labour inspectors who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

"The workers were asking for handouts from neighbours, begging for food," said Luiz Fabre, the labour prosecutor assigned to the case, who plans to sue Shox for about R$ 1 million ($194,893) for employing slave labour.

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