The tragic stories of the overwhelming deaths at European borders and the lack of action surrounding them characterize a troubling far-right ideology of discriminatory anti-migrant measures spreading across the E.U. After nearly a decade of deliberation, the European Parliament recently passed a sweeping overhaul of the European Union’s asylum and migration rules with what is known as the “Migration Pact.” This landmark decision addresses member states’ responsibilities towards migrants and asylum seekers and will come into force in two years’ time. According to Al Jazeera, prominent E.U. figu ..read more

A traditional marriage ceremony of a 12-year-old girl to a 63-year-old priest in Accra, Ghana has sparked outrage across the country and around the world. The BBC reports that the priest, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, married her in a customary ceremony held on Saturday. Controversial ceremony In photos and videos shared online, dozens of community members can be seen attending the ceremony. During the ceremony, it was heard that women told the girl to “dress teasingly for her husband.” While community leaders claimed that the ceremony was purely tradition and custom, hearing the women ad ..read more

In Nepal, there is a village that is nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, officially called Hokse, but commonly known as “Kidney Valley.” At least one person in every household in this village has had their kidney illegally harvested and sold. Motivated by desperation and poverty, many who bear scars share their stories and reveal a larger issue of exploitation and vulnerability that is pervasive in “Kidney Valley.” Desperate measures The prevalence of organ trafficking in “Kidney Valley” is directly correlated to the degree of poverty in the village. Brokers, preying on economic hardshi ..read more

As the United Kingdom prepares to embark on an ambitious expansion of its solar energy infrastructure called the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI), advocates and senior officials are concerned about the U.K.’s heavy reliance on solar companies implicated in Uyghur forced labor. “One of the most dirty and complicit industries” The Telegraph reports that Alicia Kearns, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, has a stark warning about the potential consequences if the U.K. fails to enact tough new laws to address this looming crisis. “Solar is one of the most dirty and complicit industri ..read more

In a poor north-eastern state in Brazil workers harvest carnauba wax from palm trees to earn a meagre living. As reported by the BBC, big businesses like L’Oreal, who buy the wax once processed, are currently turning a blind eye to the slavery-like conditions of these workers. And despite processing plants having signed an agreement to improve supply chains and end the informality of the carnauba harvesting sector, labor inspectors in Brazil say nothing has changed for workers. From candy, to pills to cosmetics, slavery is on the list of ingredients Carnauba wax is a product that has been used ..read more

As Theresa May bids farewell to politics, her legacy is one of controversy, particularly within migrant communities and advocacy circles. As prime minister May passed the Modern Slavery Act in 2015, hailed at the time as a crowning achievement that offered “world-leading protections” for trafficking survivors. May has also been at front and center of the criticism launched at her own party’s leadership for immigration policies that will essentially abandon trafficking victims. At the same time, as home secretary, May is the person who introduced changes to the rules governing the Overseas Dome ..read more

The Canada Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) released its first final report this week after a complaint filed in 2022 against Vancouver company Dynasty Gold. Reuters reports that the complaint came from a coalition of 28 human rights groups including the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. It claimed that the company benefited from the use of Uyghur forced labor at a mine in China in which they held a majority interest. The resulting report documents evidence of pervasive use of forced labor at the mine and that Dynasty had “cont ..read more

Tuff Torq Corp., a Tennessee-based manufacturing company is facing substantial fines close to $300,000 for exploiting children and violating child labor laws by having them operate hazardous machinery and work illegal hours, as declared by the Department of Labor (DOL). These specific fines are unique to other child labor law violation cases for the new legal precedents they set. The company which is known for producing power equipment parts for brands like John Deere, Toro, and Yamaha, has also been mandated to allocate $1.5 million in profits to the 10 children it employed, some as young as ..read more

The trafficking landscape in Southeast Asia has changed. The Telegraph reports on what they call a ‘scamdemic’ where men and boys are increasingly being targeted and forced to scam people around the world in troll factories. Changes in Southeast Asia’s trafficking According to the Vietnamese anti-trafficking NGO Blue Dragon, women and girls made up a vast majority of trafficking victims in the region before the pandemic. Before 2020, more than 90% of the women were trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and often sold into prostitution in China. But with the economic devastation th ..read more

A recent study by the New York Times and Fuller Project reveals the not-so-sweet side of sugarcane production in India. In the state of Maharashtra, the community has been transformed, with help from Pepsi and Coca-Cola, into a sugar producing powerhouse. But this transformation comes at a cost for local women and girls in the form of child marriages, hysterectomies and illegal generational debt bondage, with the U.N. labeling it forced labor. Girls marrying within months of their first period The international community regards child marriage as a human rights violation and in India, child ma ..read more