The 2016 index once again found that the Asia Pacific region
contained two-thirds of the people in slavery in the world, reflecting the fact
that the region provides low-skilled labour for global supply chains producing
food, garments and technology.
Globally, India remains the country with the highest
absolute number of people trapped in slavery, with 18.4 million slaves among
its population of 1.3 billion people.
India is followed by China (3.39 million), Pakistan (2.13
million), Bangladesh (1.53 million) and Uzbekistan (1.23 million), and
together, these five countries account for almost 58 per cent of the world's
enslaved, or 26.6 million people.
North Korea had the highest incidence of modern slavery with
4.37 per cent of its population enslaved, making up one in every 20 people.
Andrew Forrest, the chairman and founder of the Walk Free
Foundation, said that besides governments and civil society, it was businesses
that played a key role in eradicating slavery.
"Leaders of the world's major economies must bring the
power of business to this issue, by requiring a focus on supply chain
transparency," he said in the report released on Tuesday.
The 2016 index was based on over 42,000 interviews by
pollster Gallup in 25 countries in 53 languages.
Modern slavery existed in all 167 countries covered by the
index with people being enslaved through human trafficking, forced labor, debt
bondage, forced or servile marriage or commercial sexual exploitation.
Source: Asian One
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