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Monday, December 3, 2012

Modern Slavery News Round-Up

Human trafficking legislation added to defense bill
U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rob Portman of Ohio co-chair the bipartisan Senate Caucus to End Human Trafficking. With the assistance and influence of their efforts, the Senate voted to add the End Human Trafficking in Government Contracting Act to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013. A few months ago, President Obama signed an executive order that prohibits government contractors and subcontractors from engaging in activities tied to trafficking.

Car wash accused of using forced labor
Five people were detained by Chinese police for suspicion of forced labor at the Guangliang Car Service in the Hedong district of Tianjin. The police rescued eleven workers, including a mentally disabled man who had been working at the car wash since August and claimed that he had been beaten. Another mentally disabled man was rescued by his brother, but has not received his salary, unlike some of the other rescued workers.

Bonded labour ensnares entire families in Afghanistan
Bonded labour in brick kilns is one of the most common forms of hazardous labour in Afghanistan. Over half of the brick kiln workers are children, most of them are under 14 years old and have been working at the kilns since they were about 7 or 8 years old. So much time is spent working at the kilns that most of the children do not obtain an education. Families are often tied to the kilns because of their needs to pay off loans. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 64% of the families surveyed had worked in the kilns for at least 11 years, while 35% had worked in the kilns for over 20 years.  

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