Four men who were forced to work in slave-like conditions have been rescued by the authorities in southern Brazil.

One of the victims, a minor, was the son of one of the workers.

The group was rescued in the Nova Petropolis region, in the south of the country, by agents of the Federal Police, on Saturday, 1st April.

The four workers’ identities have not been revealed.

The authorities rescued the group after the Military Brigade received complaints from two workers who were reportedly left by their employer without money or shelter.

Members of the federal police, military and prosecutors from the Ministry of Labour and Employment went to the forested area where the group was reportedly being kept.

There they found that the four people had been living in a makeshift camp in unsanitary conditions.

They had no drinking water, toilets or electricity, according to reports.

The regional manager of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Vanius Corte, told local media that two of the workers had arrived in the area last August and another two in March of this year.

They were never given a salary, according to a statement obtained by Newsflash from the Military Brigade of Rio Grande do Sul.

The statement added: “On Saturday morning [1st April], two men aged 24 and 45, of Argentine nationality, sought out the Brigada Militar de Bom Escolha, reporting that they were residing in the municipality of Nova Petropolis, after being hired in August 2022 to as lumberjacks.”

The group reportedly worked cutting eucalyptus trees and was promised pay at the end of the contracted period.

But when two of them complained about the conditions they were kept in, the employer apparently decided to get rid of them.

The Military Brigade said: “On Friday (31st March), they worked normally and during the night the man who hired them invited them to go to dinner at a restaurant, location unknown.

“After dinner, they got into a vehicle and started to drive until the man stopped the car in front of a hotel, where he abandoned them.”

They sought help from the police despite allegedly being given death threats if they ever reported the situation.

They claimed there were two more victims left behind – a father and his 14-year-old son, who had not been able to escape.

The two were later found in the camp and rescued.

None of the four had documents and had entered Brazil illegally, according to officials.

The police reportedly found and arrested the alleged employer.

He was taken to the Federal Police headquarters and was charged with reduction to servitude.

The man will be reportedly transferred to jail pending trial. It is currently unclear if the four workers will be allowed to stay in Brazil.