More Than 300 Slaves Rescued In Indonesia After AP Investigation

The Associated Press recently revealed that men were being held against their will and forced to work at a fishery on a remote Indonesian island. On Friday, the government evacuated more than 300.

More than 300 slaves forced to work fishing in Indonesia were rescued this week in an effort prompted by an Associated Press investigation.

Dita Alangkara / AP

The AP revealed last month that thousands of workers were being held against their will on an isolated island in often brutal conditions.

Dita Alangkara / AP

Slavery runs rampant in the industry, the AP investigation found, and some of the fish caught by slaves makes its way to grocery stores and markets in the United States and Europe.

Many of the slaves were originally from Myanmar and were trafficked through Thailand to the Indonesian fishing companies.

Dita Alangkara / AP

In response to the AP report, officials from three countries this week went to a remote island of Indonesia to investigate how thousands of foreign fishermen wound up there as slaves and were forced to catch seafood that could eventually end up being exported to the United States and elsewhere.

When officials arrived at the Pusaka Benjina Resources fishing company, they asked those who wanted to leave the compound to raise their hands.

Dita Alangkara / AP

About 320 men jumped at the offer, the AP reported.