SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 20: Thousands of helpless and vulnerable workers are subjected to forced labour in the United States, according to a report issued by the University of California Berkeley Human Right Centre (HRC).

THE REPORT, ENTITLED HIDDEN SLAVES: Forced Labour in the United States, said that the actual number of forced labour victims in the United States reaches into the tens of thousands, but the US government has come to the assistance of only approximately 450 of these, over the past three years.

Victims are said to suffer constant psychological assaults intended to keep them obedient, and they come from predominantly impoverished areas of the world. The HRC's data indicates that forced labour operations exist in at least 90 US cities from January 1998 to December 2003.

Victims were held in forced labour ranged from a few weeks to more than 20 years, with the majority of cases lasting between two and five years. The report finds that forced labour is prevalent in five sectors of the US economy: prostitution (46 per cent), domestic services (27 per cent), agriculture (10 per cent), sweatshop/factory (5 per cent), and restaurant and hotel work (4 per cent).

According to the findings, "forced labour operations are concentrated in the states of California, Florida, New York, and Texas". The victims come from numerous ethnic and racial groups.

Chinese workers were the largest group of victims followed by Mexicans and Vietnamese, the report said. Most are brought in from 35 or more countries, and some are American citizens.