That is, as the OP notes, a familiar sort of awful, but I appreciate you sharing the link.
A two-month investigation by The Citizen exposes a troubling trend where vulnerable individuals, predominantly from Burundi, Rwanda, and the DR Congo, find themselves ensnared in exploitative labour conditions....
Some work tirelessly throughout the year without receiving payment, compelling them to escape and face life on the streets, often becoming undocumented Tanzanian citizens in the process.
"I'm, however, looking for any chances to escape to towns where I can hustle freely to make ends meet. I have no plan of going back home as of now," Gideon says.
The remote and isolated nature of tobacco farms, coupled with the lack of oversight, contributes to the invisibility of this exploitation, according to the locals.
Victims, unable to seek help or the authorities' intervention, remain silent due to fear of revenge from their oppressors.
The exploitation extends beyond labour, as revealed by a victim named Pendo, who escaped after enduring brutal acts for six months, including forced sexual acts.
She says one day, while she was in the field, she saw a car coming that had brought pesticide, so she decided to approach it, and fortunately, she was welcomed and listened to.
"Inside the car was this (directing her finger to her current boss) sister of mine, who I currently live with... The situation there (in tobacco farms) is so bad, people are treated gravely," she explains.
The host of this girl admits to saving her in November last year after listening to the situations she was going through. "I took her and promised to help her return home safely."
"We know these places because we have been distributing pesticides. Many young girls and boys work on these farms despite the government not allowing it," she explains. "Sometimes farm owners don't know the suffering that these children go through, especially girls."
"We do not allow underage persons to enter the fields because it is against human and children's rights." A retired Commissioner of Police, whose name is withheld, used a Kiswahili expression that says, "Katika msafara wa mamba, na kenge wamo."The Citizen, appropriately enough, leaves this untranslated, but Google renders it charmingly as "In the caravan of crocodiles, there are beetles."