hm... interesting. Didn't miss any in the first two columns except for Uzbekistan. But I'm surprised to not see Saudi Arabia on the list. I guess it's hard to collect accurate stats on such a thing, plus I'm sure there's some disagreement on how exactly to define "slave" these days. Since, officially anyway, the last country to ban the practice did so over 30 years ago.
In an era in which (permanent) bonded servitude is illegal everywhere, there are pretty massive methodological challenges in coming up with these numbers. We should care about freedom, of course, but placing everyone within a dichotomy of free/unfree is pretty ridiculously simplistic in the current context.
Haiti has fallen on some really crappy times of late, but doesn't the DR have a lot of tourism? (My daughter went and said the beaches are beautiful!) Tourists tend to frown on slavery as a general rule.
Reminds me of when former sports legend Franz Beckenbauer went to Qatar for business deals and when he came back, this is what he had to say in all seriousness: "I have not seen a single slave there. They all walk around freely, neither chained nor shackled, and without penitential garment on their heads. I don't know where these media reports come from. I have seen the Arab world myself and I think my view is more realistic."
In the Dominican Republic, the constitution was changed to being born from an undocumented immigrant you are still illegal. It was then retroactively applied all the way back to the writing of the previous version in 1929, leading to sanctions on the country for the racist (anti-Haitian) act.
People living under slavery don't have a big red 'S' on their back. Tourists are more likely to lounge on the beach or in the bar then give the toilet-cleaners the 3rd degree on their working status.
This. Even some of the Roman slaves were allowed to travel and shop and deliberate for their masters and even had degrees of hierarchy and status in public. It might have been hard to tell them apart, especially if they were Italian.
Actually not a bad guess. The history of Liberia is pretty tragic and includes a lot of exploitation of the locals by the freed slaves who founded the country.
The number of adjectives in your country's name describing it as free, democratic, or for the people is inversely proportional to the degree that country actually is free, democratic, or for the people.
Yeah...we've known for like 8 years since they won the bid. There have been articles for years about how the world should ban the games there. Not just for the human rights reasons, but because it's dangerously hot to host an outdoor soccer tournament of that magnitude. The world has 1 year to figure it out.
It doesn't matter if you are someone's wife or not, in Saudi Arabia all women, aside from foreign expats, must by law have a "mahram." They like to translate this as "guardian," but in actual practice a better translation is "owner." All Saudi women are someone's property. They can't work, travel, marry, or divorce without permission from their "mahram." They do not have the same legal rights as men and their testimony is not valued as if it were given by a whole person in Saudi courts. The true figure for slavery in Saudi Arabia is close to 50%.
source: living there for 6 years, knowing personally many women who are from there. 100% of them are unable to truly make decisions for themselves. Those that appear to are only doing so with the consent of their owner (father, uncle, husband... in some cases minor male child... somebody with a phallus basically)
As of this year, the king of Saudi Arabia announced that women will be allowed to travel without permission from a mahram. This is pretty huge for Saudi women. I wonder if there is going to be a bunch that try to escape to foreign countries and claim asylum. I hope that they are granted it if they ask... but if that happens too often the kingdom may change its policy back.
Couldn't many of the migrant laborers in Saudi Arabia also be considered slaves? Many of them work in grueling conditions for barely any pay and are essentially trapped in the country because their passports have been seized.
Huh. A little surprised to see North Korea at the top. Not because I had thought it was such a wonderful place, but because I had pictured it as a place where the quality of life is just generally bad for everyone. But I guess for some it's even worse :(
I thought China would be on there. I didn't expect north Korea to be there even though it was my first guess because it often doesn't have statistics for these things. Didn't know about Uzbekistan.
Many people who are victims of human trafficking were slaves either in the place they were trafficked from or become slaves in the place they are trafficked to, but not always, and it's a separate thing.
But I absolutely agree that tourists are generally going to be oblivious to the status of locals they may see in these places.
Also, how the actual f*** did Qatar get awarded the (Soccer - I can't believe I'm saying that!) World Cup?
The stadia are being built by migrant slaves.
Check it out.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/qatar-world-cup-of-shame/
source: living there for 6 years, knowing personally many women who are from there. 100% of them are unable to truly make decisions for themselves. Those that appear to are only doing so with the consent of their owner (father, uncle, husband... in some cases minor male child... somebody with a phallus basically)
I would expect to see some first world countries on the list if it were.