On 8 April, the Global Commission on Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking released a comprehensive report on the current state of human trafficking and labour exploitation across the globe.
The report explores trends, data, risk factors, highlighting the role of overlapping crises globally – such as armed conflict, forced displacement, and climate change – and outlines what governments, international organisations and civil society can do to better prevent and combat human trafficking.
It raises critical questions: Why is this still happening? And what can be done to finally put an end to human trafficking and labour exploitation worldwide?
According to the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, 1 in every 150 persons are victims of labour exploitation or forced marriage, totalling nearly 50 million victims every day, affecting every region around the world.
Despite global efforts, the number of people affected by human trafficking and exploitation continues to increase. These systems of exploitation are often embedded within global chains, regions facing humanitarian crises, and migration flows.
Importantly, the report calls for a shift away from voluntary approaches, towards mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) in line with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). For HRDD to be effective, it needs to be embedded in business’s supply chains, and workers must be placed at the centre of the process.
These recommendations come at a time when the European Union is weakening its HRDD measures with the proposed Omnibus shifting away from the UNGPs. It is crucial that the EU upholds the scope of due diligence obligations to businesses through the CSDDD. While the Council of the European Union has already published a draft position on the European Commission’s simplification proposals, it has not reversed key regressions in human rights protections along supply chains.
Although the goals of simplification and efficiency are understandable, deregulation must not come at the expense of creating more secure, sustainable, and humane supply chains. We urge the European Parliament to strike a careful balance—to ensure that companies operating in the EU can remain competitive while upholding strong human rights standards across their operations and supply chains.
Moreover, the report highlights the critical importance of national laws and implementation mechanisms to really tackle human trafficking and labour exploitation. For the legislation to be effective it should have full jurisdictional reach, as well as ensure effective investigation, prosecution and punishment, together with appropriate victim support and remedies.
The report also emphasises the importance of civil society and international organisations and urges for increased cooperation and strategies to ensure the share of good practices and knowledge, as well as funding strategies that secure the continuity of the anti-trafficking efforts.
As we see more and more governments opt for restrictive migration policies, this report shades light into the negative impact that they have on anti-trafficking efforts. It highlights visas tied to only 1 employer or punitive use of detention against asylum seekers as measures that increase vulnerabilities.
By providing safe and fair migration pathways, governments decrease vulnerabilities, as unstable migration statuses make people more vulnerable to human trafficking.
CopyRight: Global Commission on Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking