Refugees in Brazil denounce ‘exploitation network’
In an article about Refugee Status Determination in Brazil, the authors note that while asylum seekers have permission to work, ‘their language, background experience, and social discrimination are obstacles that they may face in trying to find jobs’. A recent article on BBC Brazil covered the topic of exploitation of refugees who are trying to find employment. Below are translated excerpts from the original, in Portuguese, which can be found here.
After receiving death threats from the Taliban for refusing to give them money, Mahmoud (not his real name) thought it was best to leave his town, located on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He paid USD5,000 to a human smuggling ring, which promised to send him to a country on the other side of the world of which he knew very little, but where, according to the group, he could seek refuge and start over in peace: Brazil.
A few weeks later, already on Brazilian soil, he claims he was a victim of an exploitation network which targets foreigners who work for national frozen food companies. Just after completing four months of work, as he was starting to adapt to his new life, Mahmoud was transferred to another state by his employer. He slept in dormitories crowded with foreigners who would take turns sleeping on the few beds available.
In the factories, he was assigned one single task: using a sharp knife to slaughter around 75 chickens per minute, in the halal manner required by Islamic countries which import Brazilian meat. ‘I had no time even to wipe my sweat,’ he says, referring to the high speed with which he had to execute the cuts in the slaughter line. For this work, he received around 700 Brazilian Reais (approximately USD408). (…)
One day, when a colleague fell ill, Mahmoud was required to work two back-to-back shifts. When he complained to his supervisor, he was insulted and fired. The next day, another foreigner had already taken his place. Penniless, Mahmoud now awaits the outcome of his request for refugee status made to CONARE (the National Committee for Refugees, attached to the Ministry of Justice), having his meals at religious centres and looking for another job. ‘They told me in Brazil I would find peace, but I became a slave and today I live like a beggar.’
BBC Brazil contacted two other foreign workers who said they had fallen victim to the same working conditions in frozen food companies. These other two men are part of a group of 25 foreigners who work for the Sadia factory (a part of BR foods, the largest food company in Brazil, and one of the largest in the world) in Samambaia, in the Federal District. Almost all of these men live in two houses provided by CDIAL Halal, the company sub-contracted by Sadia for the halal slaughter of chickens.
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All of the workers are Muslim, since halal slaughter requires that animals have their throats manually slit by followers of Islam (…). According to the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, there are only three companies in Brazil who can provide halal certification; CDIAL Halal, a branch of the religious group CDIAL (Centre for the Promotion of Islam in Latin America, based in Sao Bernardo do Campo) is one of them. CDIAL Halal, which provides services for almost all the Brazilian companies which export meat to Islamic countries, says they have around 350 staff employed in halal slaughter, 90 percent of whom come from African or Asian countries, such as Senegal, Somalia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan.
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To the prosecutor of the Public Labour Ministry, Ricardo Nino Ballarini, the conditions conveyed by the Samambaia workers are tantamount to slavery. ‘The company is taking advantage of their vulnerable situation in the country (…). By constantly transferring them from one state to another, they are preventing them from creating roots, establishing personal relationships, and reporting such abuses to the police,’ he states.
(…) ‘Despite knowing the situation is precarious, they are afraid of denouncing it and being deported.’
When told about this article, the Ministry announced they have designated prosecutor Marici Barros Pereira to investigate the complaints at the Samambaia factory. The Ministry also confirmed that they are preparing new legislation for work in the frozen food industry.
