Case Studies

The Verité report investigates forced labour indicators within Bolivia’s Brazil nut, cattle, corn, and peanut sectors. Human trafficking emerges as a critical issue, particularly in remote rural areas where workers face coercion and exploitation. Vulnerable individuals, often from marginalised communities, are trafficked and subjected to abusive recruitment practices, debt bondage, and inadequate living conditions. The report highlights that victims are frequently misled about the nature of their work, wages, and living conditions, leading to situations where they cannot freely leave or seek help. It underscores the necessity of stringent enforcement of labour laws, enhanced labour inspections, and support systems for victims to combat trafficking. The study calls for collaboration between governmental, non-governmental, and international entities to address the root causes and provide comprehensive support to affected workers. Ending trafficking and forced labour requires a multifaceted approach that includes regulatory oversight, victim protection, and education initiatives to raise awareness about these issues. 

Keywords: Latin America, Bolivia, cattle, primary production, human trafficking, forced labour, modern slavery

Source: https://verite.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Research-on-Indicators-of-Forced-Labor-in-the-Bolivia-Brazil-nut-Cattle-Corn-and-Peanut-Sectors__9.19.pdf 

Significant labour rights violations were uncovered at the Pedreira farm in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The farm is owned by the family of Cooxupé president Carlos Augusto Rodrigues de Melo. Cooxupé is the world’s largest coffee cooperative, and supplies major international brands like Starbucks and Nespresso. Workers at the Pedreira farm had up to 30% of their wages illegally deducted to pay for essential equipment, like portable coffee harvesting machines, which should legally have been provided by the employer free of charge. In 2021, an inspection revealed that 19 workers, who had migrated from the impoverished Jequitinhonha Valley, were affected by these illegal deductions. This violation occurred despite Cooxupé’s substantial profits, which nearly doubled to $61 million in 2020 on revenues of $1 billion. The Melo family subsequently agreed to return the deducted wages and pay each worker 2,000 reais ($370) as compensation for moral damages. This incident is part of a broader issue of labour exploitation in Brazil’s coffee industry. In 2020, 140 workers were rescued from slave-like conditions on coffee plantations in Minas Gerais. 

Keywords: Latin America, Brazil, coffee, primary production, forced labour, modern slavery

Source:  https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/labor-rights-violations-at-brazil-coffee-farm-linked-to-starbucks-nespresso/ 

According to the U.S. Bureau of International Labour Affairs, there is strong evidence of forced labour, child labour, and other labour violations in cattle raising areas of Brazil and Paraguay, specifically in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso do Sul and in the Paraguayan Department of Boquerón. Indeed, in Brazil and Paraguay's extensive cattle-raising industries, employers are using coercive recruitment and employment practices. These primarily affect rural and indigenous populations that are falsely promised improved livelihoods. The growing global demand for beef is driving the expansion of cattle operations in these countries, exacerbating the risk of forced labour. In both countries, small and medium cattle producers, supplying to larger international slaughterhouses, often use advance payments to trap workers in debt bondage. Workers face coercion, threats, and restrictions on their freedom, with employers commonly retaining their identification documents. The remote locations of cattle ranches and workers' reliance on employers for food and housing further contribute to conditions that facilitate forced labour. 

Keywords: Latin America, Brazil, cattle, primary production, forced labour, child labour, human rights violations, modern slavery

Sources:  https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/project-increase-worker-voice-and-address-forced-labor-child-labor-and-other-labor#:~:text=Employers%20in%20Brazil%20and%20Paraguay's,the%20promise%20of%20better%20livelihoods 

The Verité report on coffee in Africa examines the challenges and issues within the coffee supply chain, focusing on labour rights and social responsibility. It highlights widespread issues such as child labour, forced labour, and poor working conditions among coffee workers across several African countries. These problems are exacerbated by factors like poverty, lack of education, and inadequate labour protections. The report identifies key areas for improvement, including enhancing transparency and accountability throughout the supply chain, strengthening labor laws and enforcement mechanisms, and promoting responsible sourcing practices among coffee buyers and exporters.

Verité calls for concerted efforts to address systemic issues in the coffee sector, ensuring that economic growth benefits all stakeholders fairly and sustainably.

Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa, Cameroon, coffee, primary production, forced labour, labour rights violations, child labour

Source: https://verite.org/africa/explore-by-commodity/coffee/

In Colombia, labour rights violations in the palm oil industry are rampant, characterised by exploitative practices and corporate impunity. The industry is large and promoted by the government, yet most of its 130,000 workers are employed in illegal and harsh conditions. Major companies, such as Paligrow, have been involved in wage theft and have denied their workers collective bargaining rights. Employees also often work in unsafe conditions, with injuries being frequent. Paligrow also uses subcontracting schemes, such as “worker cooperatives” and “simplified stock corporations” in order to avoid employment costs, including contributing to social security benefits. This undermines workers’ rights and complicates enforcement under the U.S.-backed Labor Action Plan, which mandates fines for such subcontracting but remains largely unenforced. Paligrow is only one of the numerous major companies that reportedly employ such exploitative practices. Furthermore, the climate for labour organising is highly dangerous, with over 150 union leaders in the palm oil sector murdered since 1998. Between 2011 and 2015, there were over 1,933 threats and acts of violence against workers, including 121 assassinations. 

Keywords: Latin America, Colombia, palm oil, primary production, forced labour, human rights violations

Sources: https://laborrights.org/blog/201605/displacement-death-and-worker-exploitation-corporate-crimes-colombia%e2%80%99s-palm-oil-industry 

The Verité report on coffee in Africa examines the challenges and issues within the coffee supply chain, focusing on labour rights and social responsibility. It highlights widespread issues such as child labour, forced labour, and poor working conditions among coffee workers across several African countries. These problems are exacerbated by factors like poverty, lack of education, and inadequate labour protections. The report identifies key areas for improvement, including enhancing transparency and accountability throughout the supply chain, strengthening labor laws and enforcement mechanisms, and promoting responsible sourcing practices among coffee buyers and exporters.

Verité calls for concerted efforts to address systemic issues in the coffee sector, ensuring that economic growth benefits all stakeholders fairly and sustainably.

Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, coffee, primary production, labour rights violations, child labour, forced labour

Source: https://verite.org/africa/explore-by-commodity/coffee/

The Verité report on coffee in Africa examines the challenges and issues within the coffee supply chain, focusing on labour rights and social responsibility. It highlights widespread issues such as child labour, forced labour, and poor working conditions among coffee workers across several African countries. These problems are exacerbated by factors like poverty, lack of education, and inadequate labour protections. The report identifies key areas for improvement, including enhancing transparency and accountability throughout the supply chain, strengthening labor laws and enforcement mechanisms, and promoting responsible sourcing practices among coffee buyers and exporters.

Verité calls for concerted efforts to address systemic issues in the coffee sector, ensuring that economic growth benefits all stakeholders fairly and sustainably.

Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, coffee, primary production, labour rights violations, forced labour, child labour

Source: https://verite.org/africa/explore-by-commodity/coffee/

A Venezuelan human rights organisation revealed that after being forced to leave Guyana, members of the Warao Indigenous community were forced to work for no pay in illegal gold mines. For up to three weeks, around 1,500 members of the community were unable to flee this situation of slave-like exploitation. This began in May 2021, when the Warao were rounded up and taken to work in illegal mines in Kumaka, a northern coastal area of Guyana. Guyanese recruiters enticed Warao individuals to work under false pretences, promising jobs as vegetable pickers. Instead, these individuals were sent to work in the mines under hazardous and inhumane conditions. Guyana has received thousands of Venezuelan refugees, with significant Warao migration starting in December 2020. Migrants face various exploitative schemes, with those in paid work receiving less than 50% of the average salary. Due to this precarious situation, the Warao community is at risk of being exposed to the criminal economy along the Venezuela-Guyana border, including the smuggling of drugs, oil and contraband goods. 

Keywords: Latin America, Guyana, gold, primary production Indigenous rights, forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking, illegal mining, human rights violations

Sources:  https://insightcrime.org/news/venezuela-warao-indigenous-guyana-illegal-gold-mines/