Millions of women, children and men are in slavery throughout the world -- no region is free from this abuse. At its root are poverty, vulnerability and government failure to implement laws or develop effective legislation.
From Monday 28 June through Friday 2 July, the United Nations Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery is meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, with a special focus on forced labour on 30 June.
Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest international human rights organisation, is presenting the following issues to the UN and making recommendations to governments on action they need to take to end this abuse. The full submissions are available online at http://www.antislavery.org from 28 June:
Abductions and forced labour in Sudan: Over one million people have been displaced in Darfur as government-armed and supported militias systematically murder civilians, abduct and rape women and children, and destroy homes in a pattern that is disturbingly similar to the slave raids that plagued southern Sudan for decades. The Government must put an end to the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for enslaving people or using forced labour if the cycle of abductions is to end.
Child trafficking to the United Arab Emirates: Boys, as young as four, continue to be trafficked to the UAE to be camel jockeys, despite its being illegal since 1980 and repeated statements from the Government that new laws and penalties are being enforced. Evidence, including dozens of photographs taken in 2004 showing very young jockeys, reveals this abuse is widespread and laws are not being enforced. http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/cameljockeysgallery/gallery.htm
Forced labour in Brazil: Thousands of Brazilians are working in forced labour, trafficked from impoverished parts of the country to estates in Amazonia, despite positive steps taken by the Government over the year to tackle slave labour. To end this abuse the Government needs to provide sufficient material and institutional support to bodies charged with fighting slavery and penalise offenders.
The migration and trafficking nexus: Most trafficked people are migrant workers seeking to escape poverty and discrimination. But recruiters' promises of well-paid jobs abroad can lead them into slavery. To prevent trafficking, states need to address the causes and review international migration policies. Even though there is a growing demand for migrant labour, many governments are making immigration policies more restrictive, reducing opportunities for regular migration and making migrants vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking.
(Subscribe to our quarterly magazine the “Reporter” at:
http://www.antislavery.org/support/join/join.htm#reporter and learn more
about slavery today !)
Beth Herzfeld
Press Officer
Anti-Slavery International
Thomas Clarkson House
The Stableyard
Broomgrove Road
London SW9 9TL
UK
http://www.antislavery.org
Please also see:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights http://www.ohchr.org/english/
From Monday 28 June through Friday 2 July, the United Nations Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery is meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, with a special focus on forced labour on 30 June.
Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest international human rights organisation, is presenting the following issues to the UN and making recommendations to governments on action they need to take to end this abuse. The full submissions are available online at http://www.antislavery.org from 28 June:
Abductions and forced labour in Sudan: Over one million people have been displaced in Darfur as government-armed and supported militias systematically murder civilians, abduct and rape women and children, and destroy homes in a pattern that is disturbingly similar to the slave raids that plagued southern Sudan for decades. The Government must put an end to the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for enslaving people or using forced labour if the cycle of abductions is to end.
Child trafficking to the United Arab Emirates: Boys, as young as four, continue to be trafficked to the UAE to be camel jockeys, despite its being illegal since 1980 and repeated statements from the Government that new laws and penalties are being enforced. Evidence, including dozens of photographs taken in 2004 showing very young jockeys, reveals this abuse is widespread and laws are not being enforced. http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/cameljockeysgallery/gallery.htm
Forced labour in Brazil: Thousands of Brazilians are working in forced labour, trafficked from impoverished parts of the country to estates in Amazonia, despite positive steps taken by the Government over the year to tackle slave labour. To end this abuse the Government needs to provide sufficient material and institutional support to bodies charged with fighting slavery and penalise offenders.
The migration and trafficking nexus: Most trafficked people are migrant workers seeking to escape poverty and discrimination. But recruiters' promises of well-paid jobs abroad can lead them into slavery. To prevent trafficking, states need to address the causes and review international migration policies. Even though there is a growing demand for migrant labour, many governments are making immigration policies more restrictive, reducing opportunities for regular migration and making migrants vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking.
(Subscribe to our quarterly magazine the “Reporter” at:
http://www.antislavery.org/support/join/join.htm#reporter and learn more
about slavery today !)
Beth Herzfeld
Press Officer
Anti-Slavery International
Thomas Clarkson House
The Stableyard
Broomgrove Road
London SW9 9TL
UK
http://www.antislavery.org
Please also see:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights http://www.ohchr.org/english/