Modern slavery and child labour: Asia’s unacceptable record

Tomoko Nishimoto says while the region has seen a sharp decline in forced labour, it remains a centre for exploitation, and massive, multinational efforts are required to end all forms of slavery

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Tomoko Nishimoto

Published: 2:47pm, 15 Nov 2017Updated: 7:11pm, 15 Nov 2017

Of the 40 million victims of modern slavery worldwide, almost two-thirds are exploited in Asia and the Pacific.

Further breakdowns of the figure reveal that the region accounts for 73 per cent of all victims of forced sexual exploitation, 64 per cent of those in forced labour exploitation, and 68 per cent of those subjected to state-imposed forced labour.

Although the share of people in extreme poverty in Asia and the Pacific has been cut by about 70 per cent over the past 10 years, 62 million children must still work so they and their families can survive.

Fighting these unacceptable forms of work is part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by world leaders in 2015. It’s an agenda whereby all countries commit to 17 interrelated goals and 169 associated targets to guide global development, known as the sustainable development goals.

Children sit together to be registered by officials during a raid on a shrimp shed in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, in 2015. An International Labour Organisation report estimated 10,000 migrant children aged 13 to 15 work in the city. Photo: AP

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Target 8.7 calls for “immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human-trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour”.