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YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The Walk Free Foundation (WFF), an Australia-based NGO has published the annual global slavery index, where Armenia occupies the 116th position (10,700 men) among 167 countries, thus recording the best rates in the entire region. Turkey occupies the 28th place; Azerbaijan is the 77th, Iran 16th, while neighboring Georgia comes the 105th.
As reports “Armenpress”, the countries with the highest numbers of people in modern slavery are India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Thailand. Taken together, these countries account for 71 percent of the estimated 35.8 million people in modern slavery.
In 2013-14, governments throughout the Asia Pacific region continued to implement measures to combat modern slavery. Of the 25 countries measured in the region, 24 have legislation that criminalises some form of modern slavery. In particular, Australia and India implemented substantial legislative reforms to support the criminalisation of modern slavery, while Mongolia and Vietnam adopted standalone anti-trafficking laws in 2012.
A number of countries in the Russia and Eurasia region have weak structures to respond to modernslavery and trafficking, and poor respect for human rights. Low socio-economic development means individuals seek alternative opportunities in neighbouring Russia, or in Eastern and Western Europe. Those who migrate can be subjected to lower wages and exploitative conditions.60 In Russia, organised crime networks and high levels of corruption place undocumented migrants at high risk of abuse and violence, and intensifies public perspectives that migrant workers are responsible for criminality.
The Index estimates the number of people in modern slavery in 167 countries. This year’s Index also includes an analysis of what governments are doing to eradicate modern slavery. In addition to measuring the extent of the problem and the actions taken, the Index increases our understanding of the contextual factors that make people vulnerable to modern slavery.
The Index is the flagship report produced by the Walk Free Foundation, a global human rights organisation dedicated to ending modern slavery. The Walk Free Foundation was founded by Australian philanthropists, Andrew and Nicola Forrest.
The methodology for the Index was developed by an internal research team and through external consultations with an international and independent Expert Advisory Group.
The 2014 Global Slavery Index estimates there are 35.8million people living in some form of modern slavery globally. The estimated prevalence of people in modern slavery has increased from 2013. It is important to note that we are not asserting that there has been an increase in modern slavery around the world over the last year.
The total is 20% higher than for 2013 because of better methodology.
The report defines slaves as people subject to forced labour, debt bondage, trafficking, sexual exploitation for money and forced or servile marriage.
It uses slavery in a modern sense of the term, rather than as a reference to the broadly outlawed traditional practice where people were held in bondage and treated as another person's property.
The Global Slavery Index's estimate is higher than other attempts to quantify modern slavery. In 2012, the International Labour Organisation estimated that almost 21 million people were victims of forced labour.
Walk Free says it found evidence of slavery in all 167 countries it surveyed.
The report says Africa and Asia face the biggest challenges in eradicating slavery, while the practice is least prevalent in Europe.
According to the report, more than 14 million people live as slaves in India. Next in the index comes China, with more than 3 million slaves, followed by Pakistan, Uzbekistan.
Russia is ranked fifth. The country's economy is said to rely on enslaved migrant workers in the construction and agricultural sectors.
Mauritania meanwhile has the highest number of slaves as a proportion of the population, at 4%. Many people in the African country inherit their slave status from their ancestors.
The report calls for much wider international cooperation on slavery. It wants governments to increase penalties for trafficking and to put pressure on businesses to clamp down on the use of slaves in their supply chains.
The Global Slavery Index was first published last year. The rise in the overall figure from 2013 was attributed by the report's authors to better data and methodology, rather than to an exponential rise in the numbers enslaved.
The UK is listed in the top 10 countries taking action against slavery. Its parliament is due to debate a law on Monday that will allow tougher sentences to be imposed for human trafficking.