There are 48.5 million slaves in the world

Five countries have 58% of the enslaved people in the world, according to the latest report of Walk Free Foundation.

India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan are on the top of the shameful list.

The foundation estimates there are 48.5 Million slaves in the world, 10 million less than in 2014. This number includes children: “almost one in three”.

“Modern slavery is when one person possesses or controls another person in such a way as to significantly deprive that person of their individual liberty, with the intention of exploiting that person through their use, profit, transfer or disposal” the organisation says.

This includes human trafficking, forced labour, forced marriages and sexual exploitation.

The country with the biggest proportion of slaves would be North Korea (most of them, by forced labour), although data from the regime is hard to contrast.

COUNTRIES TAKING ACTION

The report lists the countries that are fighting more effectively against slavery. Number one is Netherlands, followed by United Kingdom, Sweden, USA, Australia, Norway, Croatia, Spain, Belgium, Portugal

The report also underlines the effort of countries with a lower GDP like the Philippines, Georgia, Brazil, Jaimaca, Croatia, Montenegro and Albania.