Hi,

Source:BBC News

Some 12.3 million people are enslaved worldwide, according to a major report.



The International Labour Organization says 2.4 million of them are victims of trafficking, and their labour generates profits of over $30bn.

The ILO says that while the figures may be lower than recent estimates, they reflect reported cases which may rise as societies face the problem.

The report calls for a global alliance to improve laws and raise awareness of what it calls a "hidden" issue.

The largest numbers are in poor Asian countries and Latin America, but there are more than 350,000 cases in the industrialised world.

Four-fifths of forced labour is exacted by private agents and most victims are women and children, the ILO says.

The report has uncovered a significant amount of the kinds of forced labour which have been known about for a long time.

An example is bonded labour - where children are forced to do the same jobs as their parents, without hope of release.

Modern slavery is growing in some conflict zones, with the seizure of children as soldiers or sex slaves.

But the report sees the biggest deterioration in the newly globalised economy, in sectors such as the sex industry, agriculture, construction and domestic service.

Local knowledge

The ILO calls for better laws and stronger law enforcement to break "a pattern of impunity" in "privately-imposed forced labour".

Global problem

The report, entitled A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour, is the ILO's second major investigation into slavery this century.

The organisation says forced labour is a global problem, in all regions and types of economy.
The reports also urges societies to address the roots of the problem by working with local communities in the poorest countries.

The ILO suggests that wealthier countries could tackle the issue by looking at their labour and migration policies.

BBC developing world correspondent David Loyn says there are some positive signs of change.

Increased concern about organised crime has led to a new international protocol against people-trafficking.

Last year, trade unionists from a range of countries met in Cameroon to discuss issues including slavery and abduction, forced domestic labour and the sex trade.

The problem could be resolved in these smaller-scale non-governmental meetings, our correspondent says, because local individuals with business knowledge are more likely to uncover the practice than formal investigators.

But, he adds, it will take a lot to change the culture of forced labour, as it operates best in informal areas outside the view of the normal economy.

PEace
-=SF_13=-

I don't see any sources or tallied figures to backup that pie chart. Makes a nice "ain't it terrible?" news item though huh?

Hi,

I don't see any sources or tallied figures to backup that pie chart. Makes a nice "ain't it terrible?" news item though huh?

The Pie chart Figures are from International Labour Organisation (I.L.O) Figures.

http://www.ilo.org/

There is a small thingy in the Pie chart that says Source:ILO .......... Right bottom Corner



Peace
-=SF_13=-

yes but enslaved by who? certainly not by the nations themselves, which in that case make it criminality and not slavery as we know it

Hi,

yes but enslaved by who? certainly not by the nations themselves,

Emmmm ........... Nowhere it was said that countrie's Governments themself indulged in the practice.......... In some parts though directly or Inderctly Governments too are responsible .......... it's a governmet's responsibility to see that every citizen gets the fundamental rights

which in that case make it criminality and not slavery as we know it

Slavery has many forms ............ it's not just the way we Know it


Check the link to see what forms of exists and how it differs around the world.......... Click on the map to read about the forms of forced labour prevalent in each region.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/h...ery/html/1.stm

Asia Pacific
In parts of Asia, forced labour is exacted by the state or the military for multiple purposes. In Burma, villagers are sometimes forced to enlist in the army or work for it. Others are forced to work on public construction projects. In China, hundreds of thousands of prisoners are forced to work under the "re-education through labour system". Asia is also crossed by human trafficking routes, particularly used for sexual exploitation.

Europe
Trafficking appears to be the main route into forced labour in Europe. While much of the attention has been focused on victims of sexual exploitation, there is growing evidence that many are being trafficked for forced labour in agriculture, domestic service, construction work and sweatshops. Victims of forced labour in Europe come mainly from Asia, former Soviet republics, Eastern Europe and Africa.

Africa
In Africa, victims of forced labour often come from distinct ethnic or religious groups. In certain countries, systems of chattel slavery are in place and hundreds of thousands of people are born into slavery. Forced labour is sometimes imposed by local authorities or by militias who abduct villagers and force them to fight or work for them. Trafficking routes run throughout Africa. The International Labour Organization says there is evidence to suggest that children represent a higher proportion of forced labourers in Africa than in other parts of the world.

Middle East
Many women from Africa and Asia who work as domestic servants in the Middle East find themselves coerced into situations of debt bondage or involuntary servitude. Young boys from South Asia and East Africa are trafficked into some Gulf States to work as camel jockeys.

South Asia
Millions of men, women and children are trapped in bonded labour across the region. They are often made to work as a means of repayment for a loan, which can trap whole families over many generations. In some cases bondage is the result of longstanding social or ethnic discrimination. Bonded labour in South Asia is found in agriculture, domestic work, the sex trade, brick kilns, glass industries, tanneries, and other manufacturing industries.

North America
Human trafficking routes run throughout the region, often leading into the US from Mexico, Canada, or overseas. Many of the tens of thousands of people who are trafficked into the US and Canada are forced into prostitution or domestic work, others become forced labourers on farms or factories. Most come from Asia and Latin America, but flows from Central and Eastern Europe are reported to be on the rise.

Latin America and Caribbean
Forced labour is most likely to affect rural or indigenous populations in remote areas of Latin America. Problems of debt bondage and abusive conditions have been documented in remote parts of the Amazon and the Andean region. The region is a place of origin, transit and destination for persons trafficked for sexual exploitation and labour. In the Caribbean, there are allegations of forced labour affecting Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic and of children in Haiti being sold into domestic slavery.

Peace
-=SF_13=-

You are correct that slavery has different forms and viewed differently all around the world. However, it still remains a global issue and a problem everywhere though not well publicized. Well....there's not much to discuss here. What do you say about this Swordfish?

Okay you've got a source. Still no hard figures though. That web page just says it will release a comprehensive report. It hasn't done so yet.

Hi,

That web page just says it will release a comprehensive report. It hasn't done so yet.

11 May 2005 is the date of the realease ..........

GENEVA (ILO News) - The International Labour Office (ILO) is to launch a comprehensive report on forced labour on 11 May 2005, providing for the first time global and regional data on the scope of forced labour, an estimate of the profits derived from trafficking in people and propose a new global initiative to abolish such practices.

"A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour" has been prepared under the Follow up to the ILO's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and is the most extensive and detailed analysis of contemporary forced labour to be issued to date.
The 87-page study provides the:

* first estimates by an international organization of forced labour in the world today, both globally and regionally;
* number of people affected by forced labour;
* number who are victims of trafficking; and,
* first estimate of the profits made by those exploiting trafficked workers.

The report also analyses the major categories of forced labour and provides an overview of main policy points that show the abolition of forced labour presents significant challenges for virtually every country in the world - industrialized, transition and developing countries alike. In addition, it will assess the experience at the national level in taking up this challenge, with particular emphasis on the importance of sound laws and policies and their rigorous enforcement, as well as effective prevention strategies.

Finally, the report reviews the actions in a number of countries against forced labour over the past four years by the ILO and its tripartite partners - governments, employers and workers - and calls for a global alliance against forced labour.
Advance copies of the report, press materials and a package of photo and audio-visual materials will be available to the media. A list of experts (and their language capabilities) is also available. These materials are under embargo and not for publication, broadcast or quotation before 1300 GMT, Wednesday 11 May 2005. For more information, contact local ILO offices, the ILO Department of Communications (communication@ilo.org, Tel: +4122/799-7912, or Kevin Cassidy, Declaration Communications Manager, Tel: +4122/799-7589, cassidy@ilo.org).

I think BBC News being a Media Agency got the Advance Copy ...... that's why they drew the Pie Chart in advance by analysing the ILO's data ?

And here it is ILO has released the Complete report today at 12:00 GMT .

A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour: A Report

It's Avalable in | Arabic | Chinese | English | French | German | Russian | Spanish | languages

Well....there's not much to discuss here. What do you say about this Swordfish?

YOu never know ........discussion sometimes starts at very Unlikely places

Peace
-=SF_13=-

Right on page 10 of the report it states:

38. These are the main findings of an ILO estimate carried out specifically for this report. In the abscence of reliable national estimates, the ILO has developed its own methodology based on a large number of reported cases, or "traces" of forced labour. The result is a minimum estimate which provides a lower number on the total number of forced labour victims in the world. This method does not generate reliable country estimates, which can only be obtained through systematic and in-depth national field studies.

So no hard facts or figures. Just their interpretation.

OK, we get what you want to say charge 7, the figures shown on the pie chart with that massive chunk going to USA & Europe must be made up by someone.