“Welcome to Brazil? Venezuelan workers exploited under aid program”, 20 July 2021

... A Thomson Reuters Foundation investigation analyzed six such cases where complaints were raised about or probes were launched into suspected exploitation or slave labor involving Venezuelans hired by companies via Operation Welcome's resettlement program. Interviews with various officials, workers' testimonies, and exclusively obtained data and documents reveal how the program is routinely failing to vet hiring businesses, coordinate with local authorities, or monitor the welfare of the Venezuelans...Operation Welcome is led by the military, with help from non-profits, the private sector, and United Nations agencies…[A]cademics, labor inspectors and state officials said a lack of government coordination and oversight meant Venezuelan workers were vulnerable to abuses at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has fueled exploitation and hindered law enforcement...An analysis of different datasets also revealed that of more than 250 companies - both Brazilian and multinational - which have signed up to employ Venezuelans, about 41 are being investigated by prosecutors for suspected labor violations...Firms that want to hire Venezuelans via Operation Welcome can file job postings online, or speak to army representatives...Sider failed to file the "Declaratory Certificate of Transport of Workers" (CDTT) for its Venezuelan workers, said labor inspector Livia Ferreira, an omission she said left the Venezuelan workers it hired vulnerable to labor exploitation...Sider is a contractor for Brazilian beermaker Ambev and Dutch giant Heineken NV, who were also found to be at fault by labor inspectors, according to Ferreira. Heineken said it fully supported the Venezuelan workers who were rescued and would review its hiring policy for contractors. An Ambev representative said it disagreed with the labor inspectors' findings but that it would reassess its contractor policies and maintain contact with Sider to help the workers...