INDIA: More than 500 Rescued from Slavery

Source: International Justice Mission, March 3, 2016

In an ongoing rescue operation, Indian police and IJM staff have rescued 564 children, women and men from forced labor slavery at a massive brick kiln.

This is IJM’s largest anti-slavery operation ever—and it took place in the exact same, sprawling factory where [IJM] helped rescue more than 500 people in 2011.

The kiln owner had evaded arrest in that first operation, but today his impunity has ended. Police arrested him and five other accomplices from an organized trafficking network. They are currently in custody and will face charges under India’s anti-trafficking laws and Bonded Labour Act.

Over the next few days, Indian officials and IJM staff will stay with the families and make sure they have nourishing meals and medical care. IJM field workers will help the families return to their home villages by train on Friday.

For the next two years, IJM staff will meet with the families regularly and connect them to long-term rehabilitation programs and opportunities so they can rebuild lives in freedom.

IJM will support local police as they build the legal case against the kiln owner and the trafficking ring that helped him grow his business—hopefully ending this systematic abuse of the poor for good.

» See full story with pictures and read more coverage of this dramatic rescue operation in The Times of India, The Hindu and The New Indian Express.

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