Posted on 07/23/2018 10:46:44 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
North Korea has the most human slaves in the world, according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, with research showing it is keeping over 2.6 million people in modern day slavery.
Among the nations in the top 10, most are some of the worst persecutors of Christians as well.
The 2018 Global Slavery Index, released last week by the Walk Free Foundation, which compiles statistics and engages in research aimed at ending human slavery, reported that one in every 10 North Korean citizens is forced to work under slavery conditions.
"As a United Nations. Commission of Inquiry has observed, violations of human rights in North Korea are not mere excesses of the state, they are an essential component of the political system," the report noted.
The country with the second highest prevalence of modern slavery is the African nation of Eritrea, described as "a repressive regime that abuses its conscription system to hold its citizens in forced labor for decades."
Rounding out the top 10 are Burundi, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Mauritania, South Sudan, Pakistan, Cambodia and Iran.
The analysis showed that although most of these nations are marked by conflict, displacement, and a lack of physical security, the conditions in North Korea, Eritrea, and Burundi stand out considering slavery is mostly imposed by the state.
The slavery index found that there has been some positive development as many world governments strengthen laws aimed at tackling global slavery.
"Protection measures are being strengthened, with improvements in access to justice for adults and children in some countries," it stated.
"Nonetheless, in every country, there are enormous gaps between the estimated size of modern slavery and the small number of victims that are identified. This suggests efforts that exist on paper are not being implemented effectively."
Overall, the report noted that as many as 40.3 million people were living in modern slavery in 2016, more than 70 percent of them women and girls, who are made to work against their will or be forced into marriage.
"In the past five years, 89 million people experienced some form of modern slavery for periods of time ranging from a few days to the whole five years," it added.
When looking at statistics on Christian persecution and religious freedom abuses around the world, North Korea also finds itself at the very top. Persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA listed the isolated Pacific nation at the top of its ranking for the 16th consecutive year this year.
With the exception of Burundi, Cambodia, and South Sudan, the rest of the nations in the top 10 of the Global Slavery Index are also in the top 50 World Watch List by Open Doors.
In its recommendations, the Walk Free Foundation urged governments and businesses to prioritize human rights when engaging with repressive regimes, and backed the financial and trade sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council on North Korea.
It warned "that businesses and governments continuing to trade with highly repressive regimes such as North Korea and Eritrea are contributing to the maintenance of forced labor."
Noting that the Global Slavery Index "deepens our understanding of the different contexts where modern slavery is likely to flourish and helps us predict the next flashpoint," the foundation is predicting that the next crisis could be among the Rohingya refugees, who fled genocidal violence committed by the Myanmar government last year.
"If the international community does nothing to address the enormous risks resulting from the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people to temporary camps in Bangladesh, this will be the next population of deeply exploited and abused people — further compounding and reinforcing what is already a deeply entrenched conflict," the foundation warned.
Iran is on the list. I am surprised about Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Both countries have been known to recruit the “guest workers,” particularly domestics.
And then keep them.
What other kind? Maybe robots some day??
You laugh? Already the use of some work-animals - horses pulling carriages around the streest of NY, circus animals, work-elephants in Thailand, for instance - are often being referred to these days as a form of slavery. Not what I am advocating, merely what is.
Read the article? That’s crazy talk. I actually did read the article, went to 2 of the embedded links saw an article about Christians being persecuted, scanned the other linked article and never saw a top 50 list. So, thanks for your help FReeper.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2016 there were 18 million slaves in India.
https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2016/06/02/india-has-the-most-people-living-in-modern-slavery/
From the WSJ article you referenced:
“from domestic to sexual to bonded and child labor. The term refers to a situation in which a person has taken away another’s freedom so they can be exploited.”
A part of the above definition does not look like the classic understanding of slavery that we have been used to.
Let’s talk about child labor... here are some questions:
1) If the child does not want to work in the place, is he still FORCED to work there against his will?
2) Can the child be “sold” to another owner?
If the answer is “No”, then this is a modern redefinition of slavery as we understand it.
Now wait a cotton-pickin' minute, are you trying to subvert the longstanding FR tradition of NOT reading the article???
:-)
Absolutely correct! We don't need to read the articles; they just need to make clearer headlines!
If they went to the top 20 nations with slavery still present, you'd see the dominance of Muslim states more clearly.
Here, the remaining/previous communist dictatorships dominate the top 10. Saudi Arabia (and many other Muslim kingdoms) did not “officially outlaw” formal slavery as a national legally-identified practice until the mid-1960’s. The abuses (at the personal and family and individual levels) remains very, very common. Not the majority, but very common.
None from Elbonia.
Dilbert’s CEO bought some but had to let them go.
The American slave plantation has not changed in its characteristics from pre Civil War to today except it is now mostly urban.
America’s not on the list?
When did this happen?
I KNEW there was a reason JohnRob limited the headline length to 100 characters -- otherwise the headlines would stretch out ad infinitum... but only for the sake of clarity, of course!
The USA is #1 in slavery.
Every single person who has a student loan is a slave to a bank and if they don’t think so then they can try to stop paying their loans and see what happens.
Pattern here? Islam?
I thought it would be the Democrat Party...they are so disappointed....they are trying harder to getting Socialists elected in 2018...
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