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墨西哥仍存在奴役现象

Mexico abolished slavery in the early 19th century, but many poor Mexicans live and work in slave-like conditions either at home or abroad. Mexican authorities this week rescued 275 people who said they were forced to work at a tomato plant in the western State of Jalisco for inadequate¹ pay and housing.

墨西哥早在19世纪初就废除了奴隶制，但是在墨西哥和其他国家，仍有许多墨西哥穷人像奴隶一样地生活和工作。墨西哥政府这个星期解救了275名工人。他们被迫在西部哈利斯科州一家番茄厂工作，薪水很低，生活条件很差。

Bioparques de Occidente is a tomato sorting and packing company in the municipality of Toliman in the western state of Jalisco. The management finds workers to get the tomatoes ready for export in nearby rural areas.

在这家工厂，工人们加工番茄，然后运至附近农村地区。

Promise of work, wages, food

Regional prosecutor² Salvador Gonzales said people are lured³ to the plant by offers of reasonable wages, accommodation and schools for their children. "They [workers] were offered jobs in Ciudad Guzman where they were offered 100 pesos [$7.85] per day, schools, accommodation. The offer was attractive. But when they [workers] arrived here they realized it was a different reality. They [Bioparques de Occidente] made them work more than eight hours and didn't pay them 100 pesos,'' he said.

地区检察官冈萨雷斯说，工厂方面用提供合理薪酬和住房、以及解决孩子的上学问题等引诱工人进厂工作：“工人们起初被许诺每天能挣7.85美元，还有住房，学校。这非常有诱惑力。但是他们来了以后发现，实际情况完全不一样。工厂让工人们每天工作八小时以上，但并没有付给他们7.85美元。”

Officials said the victims were mainly paid in vouchers⁴ redeemable⁵ at the company store, where items were sold at overinflated prices. The living conditions were crowded and dirty. But the workers were not permitted to leave.

政府官员说，受骗工人们得到的大都是代金券，只能在工厂的商店里用，而工厂商店的商品比外面要贵得多。另外，住房拥挤，而且又脏又乱。但厂方不允许工人离开。

Alejandro Acosta said they were treated cruelly. "We are badly treated here. It's not fair. They should pay us what they owe us in any case. Scoldings in the morning when one has a sick baby. They go to your room, kick the door open and tell you: 'Go to work, now!' If one does not go to work in the field you are not given any food, no food and apart from that you have to work here, sweep the floor, clean toilets, collect rubbish," Acosta explained. "It's not fair.''

工人阿科斯塔说，厂方态度非常粗暴：“这里的待遇很差。这不公平。他们应该偿还亏欠我们的工资。早上，如果有谁的孩子病了，就会遭到责骂。他们会一脚踹开房门，说：‘马上去工作’！如果不去田里工作，就没吃的，但是还得扫地板，刷厕所，捡垃圾。这不公平。”

But one man managed to escape and alert authorities in the state capital, Guadalajara.

但有一个人想办法逃出来，到瓜达拉哈拉有关当局那里报了案。

Violators arrested

Five foremen were arrested on charges of "grave violations⁶ and crimes, including the illegal privation of liberty and human trafficking.

五名工头被逮捕，罪名是“非法剥夺他人自由和贩卖人口”。

In 2007, Mauritania became the last country to ban slavery officially, but rights groups said that global slave trade in various forms continues, generating an estimated $32 billion a year.

2007年，毛里塔尼亚成为正式禁止奴隶制度的最后一个国家。但是人权组织指出，以各种形式存在的奴隶贸易继续存在，每年的交易额达到大约320亿美元。

A recent study, by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, estimated that 880,000 people are trapped in forced labor⁷ in nine European countries alone: France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

最近一项研究估计，仅仅在9个欧洲国家，就有大约88万人被强迫工作。