GENEVA: The UN announced Monday that 50 million people worldwide are subject to forced labour or forced marriage, warning that the number of these people has substantially increased in recent years.
The United Nations had aimed to end all kinds of modern slavery by 2030, but between 2016 and 2021, the number of individuals subject to forced labour or forced marriage increased by 10 million.
According to a research conducted by the UN departments for labour and migration at the end of last year, 22 million individuals were married and 28 million were engaged in forced labour. According to the research, that means that almost one in every 150 individuals worldwide are victims of modern-day slavery.
Guy Ryder, the head of the International Labor Organization (ILO), issued a statement in which he said, “It is distressing that the situation with contemporary slavery is not improving.”
Nothing justifies continuing to violate these fundamental human rights,The survey showed that the risk has increased as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, which made conditions worse and increased debt levels for many workers.
It has caused “unprecedented disruption to employment and education, rises in severe poverty, and forced and dangerous migration”, it claimed, adding to the threat when combined with the effects of climate change and violent conflicts.
