New Delhi, Oct 17 – India has the highest number of people in modern slavery with between 13.3 million and 14.7 million enslaved, almost half of 29.8 million estimated worldwide.
Modern slavery includes practises such as debt bondage, forced marriage and sale or exploitation of children as well as human trafficking and forced labour.
“The study suggests that while this involves the exploitation of some foreign nationals, by far the largest proportion is the exploitation of Indian citizens within India itself, particularly through debt bondage and bonded labour,” said Australian-based rights group Walk Free in its report.
The country with the second highest number of enslaved people is China with an estimated 2.8 million to 3.1 million in modern slavery, the Global Slavery Index 2013 revealed.
Slavery in China includes forced labour of men, women and children in many parts of the economy including domestic servitude and forced begging, sexual exploitation of women and children, and forced marriage.
“Today some people are still being born into hereditary slavery, a staggering but harsh reality particularly in parts of West Africa and South Asia,” said the report.
Other victims are captured or kidnapped before being sold or kept for exploitation whether through ‘marriage, unpaid labour on fishing boats or as domestic workers.
“Others are tricked and lured into situations they cannot escape, with false promises of a good job or an education. Modern slavery can involve using children in the military whether as combatants, porters, cooks or for other jobs,” it said.
The country with the third highest number of slavery is Pakistan with an estimated 2 million to 2.2 million victims. India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Bangladesh account for a combined 76 per cent of the total number of people in modern slavery worldwide.
-Bernama
