According to a recent report by the International Labour Organization, 27.6 million people are engaged in forced labor worldwide; an increase of 2.7 million over the past five years.

Forced labor is when people are coerced to work through the use of violence or intimidation, or even to pay off a debt. It’s common in many sectors around the world, from manufacturing to mining.

If you buy products in the European Union, you might assume that those products are free from forced labor. But this assumption would be wrong.

That is supposed to change with a new EU policy proposal released today, intended to prohibit products made with forced labor from being bought or sold on the common EU market. After various versions of the proposal being leaked to the press, the European Commission has now released its take at attempting a ban on forced labor. Though the proposal was broadly welcomed by both labor rights organizations and businesses, critics point to deficiencies — which might cut into its effectiveness.

“There seems to have been a reluctance to be very ambitious with this proposal from the very beginning,” said Christopher Patz, a policy officer with the European Coalition for Corporate Justice in Brussels. With groups campaigning for more than a decade, “It’s a disgrace it’s taken so long.”

The proposed regulation would allow any actor to submit a complaint over suspected forced labor to the national authority responsible for policing imports in an EU country, which the authority would then investigate. That body would be able to stop the product from entering the EU or even destroy it. Covering all products, it would also include setting up a public database indicating the likelihood of whether forced labor is taking place in a particular region.

“For maybe the first time, forced labor is clearly illegal to use and put on the market,” said Muriel Treibich, a lobby and advocacy coordinator with Clean Clothes Campaign.

“The Commission proposes to exclude goods from the market only after the existence of forced labor in their supply chain has been established, not when it is suspected,” said Anna Cavazzini, the German member of European Parliament who negotiated for the Greens on the topic.

This is different to US legislation, where authorities may prohibit imports based on reasonable suspicion. The US framework also places the onus on companies to prove their products are free from forced labor. The EU proposal, in contrast, places the burden of proof on European authorities, which are under-resourced and would end up doing piecemeal enforcement, critics say.

“I would have indeed been happier to see the burden of proof with the company in question as it is easier for them to gather information inside their supply chain,” Cavazzini explained.

The EU proposal’s high standard of evidence “makes it a bar that’s very high to meet for civil society and for national enforcers,” said Ben Vanpeperstraete, a senior legal adviser at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.  “It’s very unlikely that we’ll see much enforcement on this proposal.” 

Vanpeperstraete pointed out that companies have various means of handling potential cost increases; for example, by reducing their margins. With clothing, he said, wages make up about 1% of the retail price (marketing can comprise 50%). A company could shift resource allocation in production or raise prices. “A 1% price increase on a t-shirt — I don’t think that’s a bad idea.”

Patz pointed out, “If you can’t be sure your business model is not contributing to forced labor, then you shouldn’t be in business.” 

EU ban too feeble to fight forced labor, groups say | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 14.09.2022

Children make up about one-third of all refugees and migrants arriving in Europe. A significant percentage of these children fleeing conflicts and insecurities in the countries of South, Central and Western Asia, come through Balkans route, which is part of the Eastern Mediterranean route towards Western and Northern Europe.

 The countries on the Balkans route, including Greece, Bulgaria, and Croatia, which are members of the EU, are mainly seen as transit countries by refugees and migrants, as they try to continue their way towards the more developed countries of Western Europe.

An in-depth analysis by Save the Children reveals:

·Likely all children who migrate using the Balkans route to cross Europe are subjected to violence which threatens their physical or emotional survival

·According to children’s testimonies, police at the borders are the most common perpetrators, as well as smugglers they rely on to cross borders

·Children report smugglers sometimes kill or leave children and adults in conditions they would not be able to survive on their own, and the dead bodies then remain to be seen by other children travelling on the same route

·The deterrence and containment policies prioritised by the European Union and countries along the Balkans route are the cause of the violence

·Inadequate and often inhumane reception conditions in prison-like camps exacerbate the suffering of children, and the lack of adequate mental health support increases the risk of harm.

The report reveals a critical lack of protection for child migrants across Europe, with children reporting violence is now an integral and an almost inevitable part of their migration experience. About one in three of the children now believe that no one can help them on their journey, and some believe they are no longer able to help themselves.

The report reveals child migrants are at enormous risk of sexual violence, with boys travelling alone particularly vulnerable, and that children are being exploited at work during the journey and at their destination, including being recruited by smugglers for criminal and sex work. Almost two-thirds of children interviewed listed one or more incidents where they recognised or witnessed sexual abuse of a child.

 Those who were travelling unaccompanied, gave examples of self-harm, suicide attempts, and abuse of alcohol and other drugs as passive strategies for coping with stress and difficulty. Some children sought protection by becoming involved in criminal and sexual activities with smugglers and other adults.

Bogdan Krasic, Balkans Migration and Displacement Hub Programme Director, said:

“These findings are striking because they show the violence in these children’s lives is so present it has become normalized. Children are exposed to all types of violence, at all times – in their countries of origin, along the journey, in the countries of transit. A migration experience that includes multiple, prolonged exposure to violence may have incomprehensible harmful effects on the development of children.”

 Ylva Sperling, Save the Children Europe director, said:

“The lack of protection at European borders has terrible consequences for children. Europe’s overwhelming emphasis on deterring arrivals means children are subjected to shocking violence by police and border guards; violence which is carried out with impunity.

“Wherever we go, Someone does us Harm”: Violence against refugee and migrant children arriving in Europe through the Balkans – World | ReliefWeb

 Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), warned that if the international community waits to take action until a famine is officially declared, “we know that it will already be too late. Tens of thousands of people will already have died by the time we declare a famine,” Maurer added, “The alarm bells are ringing loudly.” 

The number of people in dire need of emergency humanitarian assistance in Somalia has increased from 4.1 million at the beginning of 2022 to 7.1 million and is expected to continue to grow.

Francesco Rocca, president of the  International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), highlighted that 22 million people living in the Horn of Africa are already in the clutches of a growing food crisis. “The situation expected to deteriorate into 2023,” Rocca stressed, adding that what is being done was “minimal compared to the huge needs” of the region. Rocca said that “world leaders should listen to act immediately” in order not only to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis but also to establish “longterm solutions in the Horn of Africa.”

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said that in Somalia alone, more than $1 billion (€1 billion) is needed to prevent the worst from happening.

The Horn of Africa is currently witnessing its fifth consecutive failed rainy season. The war in Ukraine and its ensuing grain delivery shortages have further compounded the situation, as well as political upheaval across the region. More than 200,000 are at risk of dying — potentially by the end of the year. About half of the country’s population is likely to experience hunger and want in some shape during the same timescale unless aid is stepped up. The number of children facing the effects of severe acute malnutrition in Somalia meanwhile has increased to over half a million. 

James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF, said that this level of child famine had not been seen in any country yet this century, with more than 700 children already having lost their lives this year due to malnutrition. “We’ve got more than half a million children facing preventable death. It’s a pending nightmare,” Elder stated, echoing Maurer’s sentiments who said that children potentially dying of hunger “is the result of systemic failure.”

Meanwhile, outbreaks of infectious diseases have also increased in Somalia, with around 8,400 suspected cases of cholera and nearly 13,000 suspected cases of measles.

Somalia’s population is for the most part pastoral and nomadic, making it difficult to deliver aid where it is needed most. 

Abubakar Dahir Osman, the UN’s permanent representative in Somalia, however, emphasized that humanitarian aid alone cannot provide a lasting solution to the famine in Somalia. He said that the relationship between humanitarian aid and development needed to be strengthened to find sustainable solutions for those who are suffering.

Somalia′s ′pending nightmare:′ Millions at risk of famine | Africa | DW | 14.09.2022

More than 140 million people face acute food insecurity due to conflict and instability, even as climate change and economic precarity indicate that hunger needs will rise in the coming months.

Armed conflict, climate-related emergencies, economic hardship and political obstacles are leading to a growing wave of hunger in countries around the world. The misery for millions will deepen without immediate urgent action, the Red Cross said.

An emergency response alone will not end these hunger crises. Concerted action and long-term approaches are the only way to break the cycle. Political will and resources are needed now. Without them, many lives will be lost, and the suffering will endure for years. 

Measures must include strengthening grassroots food systems.

“Conflict is a huge driver of hunger. We see violence preventing farmers from planting and harvesting. We see sanctions and blockades preventing food delivery to the most vulnerable… A cycle of band-aid solutions will not be enough in coming years.” Peter Maurer, President of the ICRC, said

In Sub-Saharan Africa: One in three children under the age of five is stunted by chronic undernutrition, while two out of five women of childbearing age are anaemic because of poor diets. The majority of people in sub-Saharan Africa live on less than $1.90 a day.

In Afghanistan: The combination of three decades of armed conflict and an economic crash resulting in few job opportunities and a massive banking crisis are having a devastating effect on Afghan families’ ability to buy food. More than half the country — 24 million — need assistance. 

In Pakistan: The recent flooding has led to an estimated $12 billion in losses. Food security in the country was alarming before this latest catastrophe, with 43 percent of the population food insecure. Now the number of acutely hungry people is expected to rise substantially. Some 78,000 square kilometers (21 million acres) of crops are under water. An estimated 65 percent of the country’s food basket — crops like rice and wheat– have been destroyed, with over 733,000 livestock reportedly killed. The floods will also negatively affect food delivery into neighboring Afghanistan.

In Somalia: We have seen a five-fold increase in the number of malnourished children needing care. Last month the Bay Regional Hospital in Baidoa admitted 466 children, up from 82 in August 2021. Children admitted here die without the specialized nutritional care they receive.

In Syria: Food insecurity rates have risen more than 50 percent since 2019. Today, two-thirds of Syria’s population –12.4 million out of 18 million — can’t meet their daily food needs. The compounding effects of more than a decade of conflict, including the consequences of sanctions, have crippled people’s buying power. Food prices have risen five-fold in the last two years.

In Yemen: Most Yemenis survive on one meal a day. Last year 53 percent of Yemen’s population were food insecure. This year it’s 63 percent — or some 19 million people. Aid actors have been forced to cut food assistance due to a lack of funds. Some 5 million people will now receive less than 50 percent of their daily nutritional requirement because of it.

Crisis fatigue not an option as global hunger crisis deepens, the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement warns – World | ReliefWeb

According to the United in Science report, the world’s chances of avoiding the worst ravages of climate breakdown are diminishing rapidly, as we enter “uncharted territory of destruction” through our failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions and take the actions needed to stave off catastrophe.

The United in Science report was coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization, and involves the UN Environment Programme, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the World Climate Research Programme, the Global Carbon Project, the UK’s Met Office and the Urban Climate Change Research Network.

Despite intensifying warnings in recent years, governments and businesses have not been changing fast enough, according to the report. The consequences are already being seen in increasingly extreme weather around the world, and we are in danger of provoking “tipping points” in the climate system that will mean more rapid and in some cases irreversible shifts. The world was also failing to adapt to the consequences of the climate crisis, the report found.

Recent flooding in Pakistan, which had covered a third of the country in water, is the latest example of extreme weather that is devastating swathes of the globe. The heatwave across Europe including the UK this summer, prolonged drought in China, a megadrought in the US and near-famine conditions in parts of Africa also reflect increasingly prevalent extremes of weather.

The secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, said: “There is nothing natural about the new scale of these disasters. They are the price of humanity’s fossil fuel addiction…”

Since Cop26, the invasion of Ukraine and soaring gas prices have prompted some governments to return to fossil fuels, including coal. 

Guterres warned of the danger: “Each year we double down on this fossil fuel addiction, even as the symptoms get rapidly worse.”

Guterres condemned rich countries that had promised the developing world assistance but failed to deliver. “It is a scandal that developed countries have failed to take adaptation seriously, and shrugged off their commitments to help the developing world,” he said.

Tasneem Essop, the executive director of the Climate Action Network, said, “The terrifying picture painted by the United in Science report is already a lived reality for millions of people facing recurring climate disasters. The science is clear, yet the addiction to fossil fuels by greedy corporations and rich countries is resulting in losses and damages for communities who have done the least to cause the current climate crisis.”

The United in Science report found:

1.

The past seven years were the hottest on record and there is a 48% chance during at least one year in the next five that the annual mean temperature will temporarily be 1.5C higher than the 1850-1900 average.

 Average pay including bonuses rose by 5.5% in the three months to July while regular pay (excluding bonuses) increased by 5.2%, up from 4.7% in June.

Workers continued to be hardest hit in the public sector, where regular pay grew by 2%, compared with 6% in the private sector. Annual inflation was 10.1% in July, the highest level in 40 years.

According to the Office for National Statistics, wages adjusted for inflation fell by 2.6% including bonuses and by 2.8% excluding bonuses.

Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at the consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the business surveys chimed with the official data to show that “labour demand is barely rising”. Tombs added that unemployment would rise as the economic situation worsened over the coming months and unemployment will rise to about 4% by the end of the year and 4.5% by mid-2023.

UK pay growth lags behind inflation as cost of living crisis bites | UK cost of living crisis | The Guardian

The USA poverty level has been often stated to be around 11 per cent of the population, but several independent and credible studies indicate much higher levels of economic distress. A study by the Urban Institute (UI) in 2018, before the pandemic struck, found that nearly 40 per cent of non-elderly adults and their families struggled to afford at least one basic need for health care, housing, utilities or food in 2017.

The 2018 study of UI was based on a well-being and basic needs survey of non-elderly adults in the age-group 18-64. While 40% struggled to access at least one basic need, within this group 60% struggled to meet two basic needs and 34% struggled to meet three needs.

As many as 23% said that they were food insecure in the last 12 months. 18% struggled to pay medical bills while almost the same number (17.8%) decided to go without some required medical treatment due to costs. Deprivation levels were found to be higher among younger adults, women, households with children, blacks and Hispanics. Those struggling to meet basic needs included several of those who were regarded not as poor but as middle-class.

This data is from a study of 18-64 age group. However, in 2020 it was reported that child poverty levels (under 18 age group) have been found to be 1.5 times higher than adult poverty levels.

The World Inequality Report 2022 tells us that the bottom 50% of the USA population has only 1.5% of its wealth and only 13% of its income. 

The World Inequality Report 2022 tells us that in the USA, the share of wealth held by the top 1% ( 35%) is 23 times higher than the share (1.5%) held by the bottom 50%. In 1968 the top 20 per cent of US households accounted for 43% of income but in 2018 they took away 52% of the income, more than the bottom 80% who got a share of only 48%.

According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the USA has the highest inequality in G7 countries— the USA has Gini coefficient of 0. 434 while for the remaining six countries this ranges between 0.326(France) and 0.392(UK). 

According to an inclusive development index prepared by the World Economic Forum the USA appeared at number 23 in a total of 30 rich countries. According to Stanford University’s State of the Union—The Poverty and Inequality Report (2016) the USA is ranked at the bottom in an index of 10 rich countries. When this index was widened to include some of the less rich countries, the USA appeared at number 18 in a total of 21 countries.

 The Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston has prepared the Elderly Economic Security Standard Index which found that in 2016 a majority of seniors lacked the “financial resources required to meet basic needs.” Conditions in nursing homes have been often found to be precarious.

A Gallup poll in December 2019 found 25% of persons contacted saying that they or a member of their family had delayed treatment for an illness due to cost factors.

The number of homeless persons, estimated to be around 550,000 or so, is set to increase significantly. As the country emerged from the pandemic, in June 2021 nearly 2 million were found to be lagging behind mortgage payments and nearly 6 million were missing out in rent payments. A substantial number of these 8 million households face the threat of eviction, while the average number of cases of evictions filed in a year till 2018 was around 3.7 million. The landlords have legal counsel in over 90% of cases; the tenants rarely have such help. This amounts to about 10,000 eviction notices in a single day, a shocking figure surely, or 416 per hour, or 7 per minute.

The extent of denial of basic needs of people in a country so well-endowed for prosperity in various ways is inexcusable and one of its leading causes is excessive militarization .

The USA spends $800 billion a year on military expenses, out of the $2000 billion spent by the entire world. This excludes many expenses listed as civilian but having strong military implications and relationships. A huge and increasing share of discretionary federal spending is taken up by military expenses. According to the Cost of the War Project based in Brown University, $8000 billion were spent on the war on terror during 20 years 2001-21, resulting in direct loss of 900,000 human lives by bomb, bullet and fire.

Taken from here

Inequalities And Militarization In USA Have Led To Millions Being Deprived Of Basic Needs| Countercurrents

Fifty million people around the world are trapped in modern slavery, either forced to work against their will or forced into a marriage, according to new global estimates, marking a significant rise over the past five years.

“It is shocking that the situation of modern slavery is not improving. Nothing can justify the persistence of this fundamental abuse of human rights,” said the ILO’s director general, Guy Ryder.

The number of people trapped in forced labour, including sex trafficking, rose to 28 million, with a further 22 million trapped in forced marriage, says a report published on Monday by the International Labour Organization, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the anti-trafficking human rights group Walk Free.

10 million more people had fallen victim to forms of modern slavery in 2021 compared with 2016, with women and children the most badly affected.

86% cases of forced labour were found in the private sector in industries including manufacturing, construction, agriculture and domestic work. Millions of people, mainly women and girls, are also estimated to be trapped in commercial sexual exploitation. 

The other 14% of cases are state-sanctioned forced labour.

The main form of coercion used by employers was the deliberate withholding of wages and the threat of dismissal, and that the refugee crisis has fuelled a surge of exploitation in supply chains and commercial businesses and industries.

More than 6 million more women and girls have also been forced into marriage, particularly child marriage affecting girls of 16 and under. 85% of forced marriages were driven by family pressure, with most cases occurring in Asia and the Pacific and across the Arab states.

Slavery is occurring at scale across the world, with more than half (52%) of all forced labour and a quarter of forced marriages occurring in high-income or middle-income countries.

Fifty million people now trapped in modern slavery in a ‘surge of exploitation’ | Slavery | The Guardian

 An estimated 6.3 million people in Sri Lanka are facing moderate to severe acute food insecurity and their situation is expected to worsen if adequate life-saving assistance and livelihood support are not provided, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned.

Two consecutive seasons of poor harvests led to a nearly 50 percent drop in production coupled with reduced imports of food grains due to foreign exchange constraints.

According to the joint FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) report immediate food assistance and livelihood programmes – including through existing social assistance mechanisms — are critical to enable households to access nutritious food – particularly moderately and severely acute food insecure ones. 

A severe macro-economic crisis in Sri Lanka has caused acute shortages and spikes in the prices of essential products, including food, agricultural inputs, fuel and medicine, severely compromising the economic activity, with major disruptions to agricultural production.

Production of paddy rice, the main food staple, is forecast at 3 million mt in 2022, the lowest level since the 2017 drought-affected harvest, mostly due to low yields following reduced application of fertilizers, the report finds.

Production of maize, mostly used as animal feed, is about 40 percent below the past five-year average, with negative effects on poultry and livestock production. Likewise, production of vegetables, fruits and export-oriented crops, such as tea, rubber, coconut and spices, is well below average, causing a significant decline in households’ income and export revenues.

Without assistance, the food security situation is expected to deteriorate further, particularly during the October 2022 to February 2023 lean season, driven by poor harvests of staple foods, in particular paddy rice, and the ongoing economic crisis.

“Months into this crippling economic crisis, families are running out of options – they are exhausted. More than 60 percent of families are eating less, and eating cheaper, less nutritious food. This comes at a time when financial constraints have forced the government to scale back on nutrition programmes, such as school meals and fortified food to mothers and undernourished children,” said WFP Representative and Country Director in Sri Lanka, Abdur Rahim Siddiqui.

Prices of most food items have been on a steady rise since the last quarter of 2021 and reached a new record high in August 2022, with the year-on-year food inflation rate at nearly 94 percent.

The total cereal import requirement in 2022 is estimated at 2.2 million mt. In the first six months of 2022, more than 930,000 mt of cereals were imported, leaving an outstanding import requirement of 1.27 million mt. Given the persisting challenges, there is a high risk that the remaining import requirement will not be met.

Food crisis in Sri Lanka likely to worsen amid poor agricultural production, price spikes and ongoing economic crisis, FAO and WFP warn – Sri Lanka | ReliefWeb

 The Nationality and Borders Act that allows citizenship to be stripped without notifying the subject.

Frances Webber,  the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) vice-chair and report author, wrote: “The message sent by the legislation on deprivation of citizenship since 2002 and its implementation largely against British Muslims of south Asian heritage is that, despite their passports, these people are not and can never be ‘true’ citizens, in the same way that ‘natives’ are.

“While a ‘native’ British citizen, who has access to no other citizenship, can commit the most heinous crimes without jeopardising his right to remain British, none of the estimated 6 million British citizens with access to another citizenship can feel confident in the perpetual nature of their citizenship.” 

Webber said: “These classes of citizenship were brought in to target British Muslims of south Asian and Middle Eastern heritage. Such divisions act as a constant reminder to minority ethnic citizens that they must watch their step, and reinforce racist messages about ‘undeserving’ racialised groups unworthy of being British.”

The “Citizenship: from right to privilege” report argues the effect is that certain people have a “second-class, disposable, contingent citizenship”. The report describes the criteria for deprivation of citizenship as “nebulous and undefined” and warns of a risk of its use for political purposes.

The report said citizenship-stripping is “just one aspect of measures targeting Muslim communities, in Britain and abroad, in the past two decades, which have helped to turn British Muslims in the UK into a ‘suspect community’”.

British Muslims’ citizenship reduced to ‘second-class’ status, says thinktank | Islam | The Guardian