Governments should move to curb modern slavery

Zafar Bhat. Dated: 12/13/2017 10:47:17 AM

Zafar Bhat
Jammu, Dec 12
Unfortunately, slavery is the world's second-biggest illicit market. In the past, slaves were shackled in metal chains.
Today, they are exploited in supply chains. It might have been thought that slavery was a shameful but pretty much-closed chapter of history. It's not. It is the world's second-biggest illicit market, behind drugs, with an estimated 45 million children, women and men treated as commodities.
Notably, forced labour generates a billion in profits a year. Two-thirds of this pernicious trade happens in our region, and across most forms of labour, particularly sex work, fishing, construction, hospitality, and textiles. Six in 10 trafficking cases are for sexual exploitation.
However, many well-meaning Indians have unwittingly supported the trade by donating to "orphanages" in south-east Asia. There evidently must be systemic change to curb and then eradicate such shocking inhumanity. There is a great economic and financial inequality in the world, but every person is of equal, priceless value at the most profound level. Governments throughout Asia should examine how they might force companies to demonstrate they are not exploiting foreign workers.
Particularly, a key reason, for example, that the cost of clothing can be so low is that it is produced by appallingly underpaid workers, many of them children. The government is rightly seeking to find a balance between forcing transparency and adding unduly to the bureaucratic burden on businesses.
Pertinently, the main target is offshore slavery, where most of it is occurring, but the mooted law is also intended to end exploitation of workers here, particularly backpackers who are often underpaid for agricultural work. The key is transparency, for the shame of being revealed to have slaves in a supply chain would be likely to create a costly backlash from consumers and shareholders. Should added incentives in the form of fines and other legal sanctions be required, they can be readily added by amending the law in the future.

 

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