ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: India has the largest number of enslaved people in the world, according to a new research report by the Australian-based Walk Free Foundation (WFF).
As per the report revealed on Tuesday in the 2016 Global Slavery Index, 18.35 million people in India are living in modern slavery.
The report says that globally more than 45 million people including men, women and children are trapped in modern slavery. It says that the Asia-Pacific region has two-thirds of total enslaved people.
The Walk Free Foundation compiled the data after collecting the information from 167 countries.
Modern slavery refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot leave because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception. They may be held in debt bondage on fishing boats, against their will as domestic servants or trapped in brothels.
“We call on governments of the top 10 economies of the world to enact laws, at least as strong as the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, with a budget and capability to ensure organizations are held to account for modern slavery in their supply chains, and to empower independent oversight,” said Andrew Forrest, the founder of WFF.
