Down there in the bottom of the pond, the scum, are the trafficker in human beings. It’s a bit unfathomable to contemplate how people are able to exploit other humans and sell them and imprison them for work — until you consider that in the world of the so-called “free market” where everything is for sale — water, education, health care — it’s probably not that big a stretch. The Middle East weighs in with 600,000 people who are in forced labor.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) looked at the problem in a report released last week, which I’m catching you up on today:

The Middle East hosts millions of migrant workers, who in some cases exceed the number of national workers substantially. In Qatar, for example, 94 per cent of workers are migrants, while in Saudi Arabia that figure is over 50 per cent. In Jordan and Lebanon migrants also make up a significant part of the workforce, particularly in the construction and domestic work sectors.

Although data is scarce, the ILO estimates that there are 600,000 forced labour victims in the Middle East.

Exploiting sponsorship
The report singles out the Kafala (sponsorship) system – which governs the lives of most migrant workers in the Mashreq and GCC countries – as “inherently problematic” because it creates an unequal power dynamic between the employer and the worker.

It points to deficits in labour law coverage that “reinforce underlying vulnerabilities of migrant workers” as well as significant gaps in national legislation that “restrict the ability of migrant workers to organize, to terminate their employment contracts and to change employers.”

It notes that the lack of inspection procedures maintains the “isolation of domestic workers in private homes” and heightens their vulnerability to exploitation. It also highlights the “real” risks of detention and deportation for workers who are coerced into sex work in the entertainment industry.

In male-dominated sectors such as construction, manufacturing, seafaring and agricultural sectors, workers are routinely deceived with respect to living and working conditions, the type of work to be performed, or even the existence of a job at all.

If you just extrapolate that globally, it’s clear the numbers of forced labor victims are in the millions. Long live the “free market”!