- A landmark treaty aimed at tackling the scourge of forced labour has been adopted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), updating the 84-year-old Forced Labour Convention
- Forced labour often means unpaid wages, excessively long work hours without rest days, confiscation of ID documents, little freedom of movement, deception, intimidation and physical or sexual violence
June 21.─ The new legally-binding protocol was approved by a large majority, with 177 of the member states attending the annual International Labour Conference in Geneva voting in favour.
Only Thailand – which recently made international headlines following an exposé of slavery on board Thai fishing vessels – voted against the treaty.
Eight countries, including Qatar, abstained.
The treaty spells out ways to prevent forms of modern-day slavery as well as to protect and compensate victims.
Today there are an estimated 21 million people worldwide in exploitative work which they are unable to leave.
“The adoption of the forced labour convention brings the struggle against forced labour into the 21st century, recognising that the challenges of the contemporary globalised political economy are very different from the colonial era,” Aidan McQuade from Anti-Slavery International told Equal Times ...
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