509,000 Modern Slaves in Turkey

The Australian "Walk Free Foundation" has published the 2018 annual report on the "Global Slavery Index," according to Ermenihaber.am.

According to the report, as of 2018, there are 40.3 million modern slaves worldwide, with 509,000 of them in Turkey. This means that 6-7 individuals out of every 1,000 residents in Turkey are subjected to forced labor or forced marriages, which are classified as "modern slavery." The report notes that Turkey is one of the 12 countries in the "G20" that has taken no measures to investigate whether there are individuals working under coercion in the production of goods and services that they acquire.

The risk of modern slavery is particularly high in Turkey's production of electronics, clothing, cocoa, cotton, and rice. The total value of these imports to Turkey amounts to about $5 billion annually.

According to the report, from 2016 to 2018, the Turkish government made no progress in combating modern slavery. It is worth noting that, in 2016, there were 3.6 million modern slaves in the Europe and Central Asia region, and Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine together accounted for 39% of this total.