Slave Workers Freed from Brazilian Plantation

"More than 1,100 workers held under slave conditions in Brazil were freed in the country's largest operation against forced labour in recent years, according to media reports Tuesday.

Officers from the Brazilian Labour Ministry and the federal police raided a sugar cane plantation used in the production of ethanol fuel in the northern state of Para. Reports said it was the largest such operation since the so-called razzia system - a fresh commitment by the government to root out slavery - was introduced in 1995.

In 2006, 3,308 men, women and children were freed from slave working conditions throughout Brazil.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 25,000- 40,000 people are subjected to such forced labour in Brazil, where slavery was officially abolished in 1888."

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