A worker carries the Chinese national flag to be planted alongside the flags of other participating countries at the opening session of the G-20 foreign ministers’ meeting, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 2, 2023 .
Manish Swarup/AP
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Manish Swarup/AP
A worker carries the Chinese national flag to be planted alongside the flags of other participating countries at the opening session of the G-20 foreign ministers’ meeting, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 2, 2023 .
Manish Swarup/AP
The world’s 20 wealthiest economies account for about half of the world’s people living in “modern slavery,” according to a new report.
A report released this week by Walk Free, an international human rights group, shows that Group of 20 countries have helped promote forced labor through global supply chains and forced labor. imposed by the state. The report said that among 20 countries, they imported $468 billion worth of products that can be produced with forced labor, with the United States accounting for nearly $170 billion of that.
“At its core, modern slavery is a manifestation of severe inequality,” Walk Free Founding Director Grace Forrest said in a statement. “It’s a mirror held in power, reflecting who in any given society has it and who doesn’t. Nowhere is this paradox more present than in our global economy through cross-border supply chains.”
G-20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK, America and the European Union.
Imported products considered “at risk” of being affected by modern slavery are electronics, clothing, palm oil, solar panels, and textiles.
Last year, the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation engaged with many UN agencies release a report says that by 2021, the number of enslaved people around the world has increased to 50 million.
The 10 countries with the highest rates of modern slavery are North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Afghanistan and Kuwait, the report said.
Walk Free says those countries have things in common, such as limited human and civil rights protections, political instability or authoritarianism.
This increase can also be attributed to climate change, the report said, as more people migrate due to extreme weather events, making them more vulnerable and vulnerable to exploitation.
“With 50 million people living in modern slavery today, this Global Slavery Index calls for immediate action. Walk Free is calling on governments around the world to step up efforts to end it. end modern slavery on their shores and in their supply chains We know the scale of the problem and have the knowledge and policies needed to act. now it’s political will.”
