Nepal ranks fifth among 162 countries around the globe with the highest prevalence of modern slavery, according to the first report of the Global Slavery Index.

According to the study conducted by Walkfree Foundation, whose report was released on Thursday, the ten countries with the highest estimated prevalence of modern slavery are Mauritania, Haiti, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Moldova, Benin, Cote d’ Ivoire, Gambia and Gabon. The countries with the least prevalence of modern slavery are Iceland, Ireland, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Luxumbourg, Finland and Denmark.

It reports that 29.8 million people are in modern slavery globally in many forms like slavery, forced labour or human trafficking. An estimated 72.7 percent victims are in Asia. The countries with the highest number of enslaved are India and China, followed by Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The study categorises ‘slave’ as someone forced to work through mental or physical threat, owned or controlled by an employer, dehumanised, treated as a commodity or brought or sold as a property, or anyone who is physically constrained or has their freedom of movement restricted.

Published on: 19 October 2013 | The Kathmandu Post