DUSHANBE, May 31, 2016, Asia-Plus — The Australia-based human rights group Walk Free Foundation (WFF) released the 2016 Global Slavery Index on Tuesday.
The report ranks Tajikistan 19th among 167 nations. There are 54,100 people (0.638% of the country’s total population) living in Tajikistan in some forms of modern slavery.
The Global Slavery Index is an annual ranking of slavery conditions by countries worldwide published by the Australia-based human rights group Walk Free Foundation (WFF).
In 2013, the first Global Slavery Index included information about the prevalence, vulnerability and country-level national responses. In 2013 the Index itself is calculated based on a combined measure of three factors: estimated prevalence of modern slavery by population (using primary and secondary data sources); a measure of child marriage; and a measure of human trafficking in and out of each country.
The 2016 Global Slavery Index estimates that 45.8 million people today are in some forms of modern slavery in 167 countries.
The report increased its estimate of people born into servitude, trafficked for sex work or trapped in debt bondage or forced labor from 35.8 million in 2014.
The highest estimated prevalence of modern slavery by the proportion of its population was found in North Korea with 1 in every 20 people — or 4.4 percent of its 25 million population — in slavery.
In Central Asia, Uzbekistan had the highest estimated prevalence of modern slavery by the proportion of its population, with more than 1.236 million people (3.973 percent of its total population) living under conditions of modern slavery. Uzbekistan also had the second-highest estimated prevalence of modern slavery by the proportion of its population following North Korea.
In Kazakhstan, 81,600 people (0.467 percent of its total population) are living under conditions.
In Kyrgyzstan, 27,700 people (0.467 percent of its total population) are living under conditions of modern slavery.
In Turkmenistan, 15,800 people (0.295 percent of its total population) are living under conditions of modern slavery.
The 2016 Global Slavery Index ranks the Russian Federation 16th among 167 countries, estimating that more than one million people in Russia (0.732 percent of its total population) are living under conditions of modern slavery.
The governments taking the least action were North Korea, Iran, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea and Hong Kong, the report said.
On the other hand, the governments taking the strongest actions against such forms of slavery were the Netherlands, the United States, Britain, Sweden and Australia.
