Over 40m modern- day slaves: Report

■ 25 million forced labour work under threat or coercion

Paris, Nov. 24: The revelation that migrants are being sold as slaves in Libya is not an isolated case: more than 40 million people were estimated to be victims of modern slavery in 2016.

The figure includes some 25 million people who were in forced labour made to work under threat or coercion and 15 million people in forced marriage, according to a report.

But the number of people in slavery is probably even higher, according to the International Labour Organisation ( ILO), the International Organisation for Migration ( IOM) and human rights group Walk Free Foundation, who jointly carried out the study.

Here are some of their key findings:

Around a quarter of the nearly 25 million people in forced labour are in private households but they can also be found in factories, on construction sites, on farms boats.

The study gives the example of 600 fishermen held on boats in Indonesian waters for many years.

More than half of the slaves are in debt to whomever is holding them. Others cannot escape because they have been drugged or paid too little to be able to leave.

— AFP

◗ Around a quarter of the nearly 25 million people in forced labour are in private households but can also be found in factories, farms, fishing boats