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Brazil's anti-slavery wins bring new test: how to compensate victims
by Fabio Teixeira | @ffctt | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Wednesday, 17 February 2021 09:00 GMT
Brazil seeks to improve access to banking for undocumented migrants rescued from slavery
By Fabio Teixeira
RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - After rescuing two Bolivian women held as slaves in a home in Sao Paulo last year and recouping the wages they were owed, officials faced an unexpected problem: there was too much money.
The abusive employer - who recruited the women from a human trafficker then forced them to stitch clothes for two months without pay - reached a settlement with Brazilian labor authorities to hand over R$8,500 ($1,575) for each victim.
But giving the women stacks of cash to take back to Bolivia by bus was deemed a safety risk by officials, while bank transfers appeared out of the question as the migrants were undocumented and therefore unable to open an account in Brazil.
As anti-slavery operations uncover more undocumented workers, officials and experts in the field have been discussing ways to provide accounts to those victims who lack visas as well as the basic paperwork and identity documents required by banks.
More:
https://news.trust.org/item/20210217075845-2jkhg/?utm_itemid=20210217075845-2jkhg
