The Ugly Face of Modern Day Slavery
A staggering 35.8 million people across the world are currently trapped in modern slavery, 20 per cent more than previously estimated, according to the 2014 Global Slavery Index recently launched by the Walk Free Foundation, a global human rights organisation. In terms of prevalence, Mauritania ranked first worldwide, with up to four per cent of the population enslaved, followed by Uzbekistan (3.97 per cent), Haiti (2.3 per cent), Qatar (1.35 per cent) and India (1.14 per cent).
On the GCC front, the UAE (1.05 per cent), followed Qatar at 12th, Oman at 45th, Kuwait at 46th, Bahrain at 47th, and Saudi Arabia at 101st,among 167 countries globally.
Qatar, which entered the top 10 for the first time, rose in the ranking due to improved survey data, giving better insight to the high number of enslaved migrant workers in the nation, the report said. There are an estimated 29,400 people in modern slavery in Qatar, mainly men and women from Asia who travel to the Gulf nation with promises of well-paid jobs, it said.
“Migrant workers, predominately from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines, are subjected to a range of exploitative practices that may amount to forced labour and domestic servitude – namely, extortionate recruitment fees, illegal confiscation of passports, withholding of salaries, excessive working hours, hazardous workplaces, unhygienic living conditions, and physical, psychological and sexual abuse from employers,” the report explained. The report highlighted a similar problem across the GCC countries and called for urgent reform from governments in terms of legislation, severely punishing offenders and establishing better standards for migrant workers. It also called on businesses operating in these countries to support the abolishment of slavery.
The issue is of particular importance in Qatar as the Gulf state prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with many expecting the country to address the issue to counter growing criticism globally.