In spite of the fact that slavery is still such a serious problem in India, there are some stories of deliverance and victory:
Double Operation Frees 526 from Two Brick Kilns
June 1, 2020 - International Justice Mission (IJM) and their grassroots partners supported a critical rescue operation freeing 526 people who had been trapped at two abusive brick kilns during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the second-largest rescue operation IJM has ever supported.
The case began in mid-March when IJM received information about 282 migrant labourers held in bonded labour at a kiln in Tiruvallur District. These families were from the state of Odisha, in northern India, and had travelled south to Tamil Nadu state under the promise of good jobs and fair wages.
They were given advance payments of 20,000 to 30,000 rupees for their work (USD 265-400), which then became escalating debts they would need to repay. The reality was appallingly different: These labourers were forced to work for close to 13 hours a day without proper food or access to healthcare. Children were denied education, and those above the age of 10 were forced to work.
Every day for the last six months, adults pounded clay and made bricks, while children dried them under the hot sun and arranged them in the kiln to be baked. Once fired, they removed the hot bricks and stacked them for sale. Source - international Justice Mission
Media Report Leads to Rescue of 150 from a Garment Factory
International Justice Mission’s team in Bangalore encountered one such incident through the case of 22 girls and young women from the state of Odisha who were trapped in a garment factory near the city. These young women were being forced to toil for long hours and deprived of their wages. Often, they were pushed to work even when they were ill or hungry.
As the lockdown extended, life became more and more unbearable every day. They had sent videos and urgent messages to family, friends and activists in Odisha, but were losing hope rescue would come. With their petitions going unheard, these young women reported their plight to local newspaper Outlook India on May 22—made urgent by a young woman named Golap: “We are only waiting to go home and stay with our family. We are not interested in work. The company owner keeps us to meet his target. The rising number of COVID-19 cases creates anxiety and fear within us. If anything happens and we die, our bodies will be left unnoticed,” says Golap with a mix of tears and anger.
As soon as IJM heard about the appalling conditions at the garment factory, our team began working through local contacts and eventually reached the women to offer support. We brought the case to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), who directed the police and local government to take immediate action and rescue the young women right away.
On Monday, June 1, a rescue team arrived at the factory expecting to find just 22 young women, but they actually found about 199 workers inside. Of these, 150 pleaded to return to their homes in Odisha. All of these girls and young women were quickly brought to safety, and officials arranged special trains to take them back home. Although IJM was not able to be present, we provided remote support to officials throughout the rescue.