1,700 Brazilian sugarcane workers rescued from slavery or forced labor, Amnesty says; UNICA says these are isolated cases

In Brazil, Amnesty International pointed to four cases where more than 1,700 sugar cane workers were rescued from forced labor and slavery conditions. The human rights group said that 288 workers were rescued from six plantations in Sao Paulo state, 409 workers from an ethanol plant in Mato Grosso do Sul state, while over 1,000 people “in conditions analogous to slavery” were released in June from a sugar plantation in Para state. In addition, 831 indigenous cane workers were reported to be working in poor conditions in Mato Grosso do Sul.

UNICA, the Brazilian cane industry association, said that Amnesty had spotlighted isolated cases and strongly defended the industry against accusations of slave labor.

The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) issued a stinging response in January to “Deadly Brew,” a documentary on the Brazilian sugar cane industry and ethanol which aired on Bloomberg Television. UNICA said that the producers did not substantiate their contention that worker conditions were deteriorating, did not report that sugar cane workers are paid more than twice the minimum wage, that cane cutters do not have minimum daily quotas, and used outdated injury and death reports without reporting falling accident rates.

The Bloomberg documentary, titled “Deadly Brew: The Human Toll of Ethanol,” investigated 82,000 injuries and 300 deaths reported in the sugar cane industry in the past 3 years, and profiled a group of migrant workers who were jailed for more than a month after striking for better conditions.

Questions have circulated for months, even years, about the scalability of the Brazilian ethanol “miracle” owing to the low wages, long hours, health problems and squalid conditions associated with sugar cane field workers. Brazil, the world’s leading exporter of ethanol (900 million gallons per year, depends on sugar cane cutters who earn $430 per month at the top end, for cutting 10-12 tons of cane per day.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Debt slavery on the rise in Brazilian sugarcane plantations: report

In Brazil, a report issued by the Pastoral Land Commission of Brazil, created by the Catholic Bishops of Brazil, revealed that debt slavery cases in 2008 rose to 280, up six percent from 2007. The UN ...

10 Stories We Probably Should Have Read: a Biofuels Digest aniversary special report

#1. An article on Cuban plans for a massive ethanol expansion in February didn't attract much attention, but it helped explain that Cuban support for Jean "Biofuels are a crime against humanity" Ziegl...

Noble Group to invest $300 million in Brazilian sugarcane ethanol plant

In Brazil, Noble Group will invest $300 million in a new sugar and ethanol mill in Sao Paulo state, with a processing capacity of 8 million tonnes of sugarcane. The mill is expected to be operating in...

Brazil expects to up ethanol exports to US after floods

In Brazil, the Brazilian sugar growers association, Unica, said that it expects to increase exports to the US of sugarcane ethanol in the aftermath of US Midwestern floods, which have caused US feedst...

Brazil fines 24 ethanol producers $75 million for Atlantic rainforest destruction

In Brazil, the national government has fined 24 ethanol producing companies more than $75 million dollars for violations relating to destruction of Atlantic coast rainforest. The companies were found ...

Durmundo Carasca invests $5 million for 15 percent stake in Southridge sugarcane ethanol project in Brazil

In Brazil, Southridge Enterprises announced that Durmundo Carasca would become a 15 percent joint venture partner  in its sugarcane ethanol project with a contribution of $5 million. Southridge had p...