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To end slavery, 10,000 must be freed every day for ten years: Group

A ten-year-old boy working in a Bangladeshi aluminum factory (file photo)

An anti-slavery group says 10,000 people would have to be freed everyday for the world to achieve a United Nations (UN)-adopted goal to bring modern slavery to an end over the next decade.

The Walk Free Foundation said in a major report on Wednesday that over 40 million people are currently held as modern-day slaves across the globe.

“At current progress, we will not be able to eradicate modern slavery by 2030,” said Katharine Bryant, the research manager at Walk Free.

The UN unanimously adopted the goal in 2015, but Walk Free says the progress to eradicate slavery across the globe remains “disgracefully marginal.”

“Ten thousand a day is massive, but a government can eradicate slavery by the hundreds of thousands in strokes,” said Andrew Forrest, the founder of Walk Free.

​A woman is seen hanging dresses at the Timex garments factory in Wattala, Sri Lanka, on June 13, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

Modern slavery, which is being practiced across the globe, includes forced labor and forced marriage as well as human trafficking both within and between countries.

In nearly 100 countries, forced labor is not considered a crime or is a minor offense, Walk Free said. About a third of countries ban forced marriage, however.

Walk Free called on governments to measure the extent of slavery within their countries as a necessary step toward its eradication.

Among the world’s rich countries that have taken little action over the goal are Qatar, Singapore, Kuwait, Brunei, and Russia, according to the Walk Free report.

On the other hand, Georgia, Nigeria, Ukraine, Moldova, Ethiopia, and Mozambique were notable for taking steps to end modern slavery despite their limited resources, it added.

The report also named Britain as doing more than any other country to combat modern slavery and human trafficking.


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