New Estimates Put World Slavery Population at 21 Millio
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong you're back watching NEWS STREAM. And according to the International Labor Organization the number of people forced into jobs they cannot leave is nearly 21 million. Now more than a quarter of the victims are under the age of 18. And they come from all over the world, including from developed countries. But the highest number is actually in this region, the Asia-Pacific, it accounts for 56 percent of the global total of forced laborers, or some 11.7 million people. Now the next highest number can be found in Africa at 18 percent, or 3.7 million people. Now Latin America it accounts for the third largest share at 9 percent. There are 1.8 million forced labor victims there. And there have been small victories in the fight against forced labor. Now police in Argentina recently freed nearly 80 Bolivians in a Buenos Aires sweat shop who were working what police say were sub-human conditions. Our senior Latin American affairs editor Rafael Romo has the story.</s>RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sweat shops were discovered behind these brick walls. There were no signs showing what was happening inside and neighbors had no idea either.</s>CLAUDIO NOGUIERAS, BUENOS AIRES RESIDENT (through translator): In this neighborhood there aren't normally any clandestine workshops. But oh well it's just another surprise.</s>ROMO: According to the Argentine federal police, the victims were 76 migrants from Bolivia who were forced to sew clothes around the clock. Police raided 12 sweat shops and arrested 23 Argentine and Bolivian nationals.</s>ELBA GARCIA, BUENOS AIRES RESIDENT (through translator): It happened and it's very regrettable. Everything happens in the dark in this neighborhood. We need more police presence.</s>ROMO: Police officials said people were forced to work in sub-human conditions. They were recruited in Bolivia, told lies and transported to Buenos Aires where they lived without documentation. Bolivia, a South American country where more than half of the population lives in poverty is located just north of Argentina. According to a human right activist, unskilled indigenous Bolivians who live in extreme poverty are vulnerable to human trafficking rings. Gustavo Vera is the director of a non-profit group that helps victims of forced labor in Buenos Airies. Vera says there are more than 3,000 sweat shops operating in the Argentine capital alone. He estimates 25,000 people work under conditions of slavery. Raids alone, Vera says, will not solve the problem.</s>GUSTAVO VERA, LA ALAMEDA: They are very vulnerable people. And in just a few days they have to go back to work at some other clandestine sweat shop because they're undocumented in this country, or because they're unfamiliar with Buenos Aires. Many go right back into the cycle of exploitation from which they came.</s>ROMO: Vera's organization is trying to give exploited workers an alternative. At this workshop, workers make $4 an hour producing slavery free clothes. Daisy Cahuapaza says she was strapped in a sweat shop for years, now she's free but she says the practice of human trafficking still continues.</s>DAISY CAHUAPAZA, SEAMSTRESS (through translator): They're still bringing people not only to Argentina, but also Brazil. There are many people being taken there, including minors.</s>ROMO: The rules at this workshop are simple: there is no boss, and all decisions are voted on by the workers, a far cry from the world of forced slavery they left behind. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.</s>LU STOUT: Now for more than a year now the CNN Freedom Project has been looking into the issue of slavery. And until now we've put the number of victims at between 10 and 30 million and that is a wide range. It was based on numbers from 2005 when the International Labor Organization said that there were just over 12 million people trapped in forced labor. So this new estimate of 21 million immediately caught our attention. Now Beate Andrees is the head of the ILO's program to combat forced labor. She joins us now live from Geneva. And Beate, thank you for joining us. And first explain this, we now know 21 million people are trapped in forced labor, but who are the victims?</s>BEATE ANDREES, ILO SPECIAL PROGRAMMA TO COMBAT FORCED LABOUR: Yes, indeed. Nearly 21 million in forced labor or what some call modern forms of slavery. And it really affects all groups of the population: old and young, men and women, usually very vulnerable groups migrant workers but also indigenous people, domestic workers, really a wide range of victims we have identified through this global estimate.</s>LU STOUT: Now in 2005 your group said there were about 12.3 million people trapped in forced labor. Now there are over 20 million. How do you explain that jump in the number of victims?</s>ANDREES: Well, indeed we've always said that our figure from 2005 was a conservative figure, it was a minimum estimate because we didn't know much about the situation on the ground. We didn't have national surveys. And this has changed. We now have based our estimates for the first time ever on national surveys, a very limited number though. And in addition we have refined our methodology. So we cannot really compare the two estimates, we cannot measure trends as yet, but we do believe that the new number is really a more accurate reflection of the reality and we have obviously improve the situation in those countries. And literally all the countries are affected.</s>LU STOUT: Yeah, but to hear the statistic, 21 million people affected, it's so extreme. What is your message to groups who are fighting forced labor and human trafficking. Their task now is so daunting, do they need to rethink their approach?</s>ANDREES: Yes, indeed. The figure is an urgent call for action. In 2005 I think we were very optimistic that forced labor could be eradicated in a number of years, but looking at the new figures we have to see and develop better strategies. From a high level point of view we will look into this now very carefully to develop more better and more prevention measures, but also to strengthen prosecution, because what we really find problematic is the fact that most offenders are still not prosecuted, so there's a huge mismatch between the number of identified victims and the number we estimate.</s>LU STOUT: And for modern-day abolitionists, NGOs, and also journalists looking into the issue which industries do we need to investigate a little bit more, which industries out there making use of forced labor?</s>ANDREES: The industries most frequently cited in our report are construction, agriculture, manufacturing -- varied types of manufacturing industries, as well as domestic work. But we do need to look more carefully look into this to also look into global supply chains and how forced labor penetrates global supply chains as well as of course various economic activities in the informal economy, including begging and the wide range of illicit activities.</s>LU STOUT: All right. Beate Andrees, thank you very much indeed for sharing your latest findings with us. Live from Geneva with the International Labor Organization. Now still to come here on NEWS STREAM, Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on her first trip abroad in more than two decades. And she's speaking out about her hopes for Myanmar. Plus, the long and the short of what Japan is doing to beat the summer heat and to cut down on energy consumption.