Around 50 million people stuck in modern slavery: UN

News Desk

Geneva: Fifty million people around the world are trapped in forced labour or forced marriage, the UN said Monday, warning that their ranks had swelled dramatically in recent years.

The United Nations had set a goal to eradicate all forms of modern slavery by 2030, but the number of people caught up in forced labour or forced marriage ballooned by 10 million between 2016 and 2021, according to a new report.

The study by the UNs agencies for labour and migration along with the Walk Free Foundation found that at the end of last year, 28 million people were in forced labour and 22 million living in a marriage they had been forced into.

That means nearly one out of every 150 people in the world is caught up in modern forms of slavery, the report said. The Covid-19 pandemic, which worsened conditions and swelled debt levels for many workers, has heightened the risk, the report found.  AFP/APP