2016 Global Slavery Index: Malaysia ranked fifth in Southeast Asia

The 2016 Global Slavery Index released today estimates that approximately 129,000 individuals are trapped in modern slavery in Malaysia.

Malaysia was ranked fifth highest for slavery prevalence in Southeast Asia, behind Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei and Thailand.

The government of Malaysia was given a CCC rating for its response to modern slavery, positioning the nation above both Hong Kong and Singapore.

The report estimates that globally, 45.8 million men, women and children are trapped in modern slavery today, two-thirds of them in Asia Pacific.

North Korea topped the list for slavery prevalence in Asia Pacific, while Malaysia was 11th, Japan 17th, and Singapore 19th.

The Walk Free Foundation, which produced the Global Slavery Index, claims that it is the world’s only report that provides a 167 country-by-country estimate measuring the prevalence of modern slavery, the level of vulnerability to enslavement and the strength of government responses to slavery.

“We call on governments of the top 10 economies of the world to enact laws, at least as strong as the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, with a budget and capability to ensure organisations are held to account for modern slavery in their supply chains, and to empower independent oversight,” said Andrew Forrest, Chairman and Founder of the Walk Free Foundation.

The Walk Free Foundation says the report was compiled from over 42,000 interviews conducted in 25 countries and 53 languages, covering 44% of the global population.

The Walk Free Foundation is an NGO aimed at ending modern day slavery and human trafficking, and below, it lists 5 things you need to know about the 2016 Global Slavery Index:

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1) Why is this report important?

Because it is only by measuring and understanding the scale of modern slavery that we can effectively tackle it. The Global Slavery Index is the only one of its kind to measure the number of people living in modern slavery country by country. It measures the prevalence of the issue, government responses to the problem and also factors within each country that make people vulnerable to exploitation. It is also broader in its definition of modern slavery than many others.

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2) What is modern slavery?

While definitions vary, in this report, modern slavery refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception. For example their passport may be taken away if they are in a foreign country, they may be threatened with violence, or their family may be threatened.

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3) What are the main differences between the 2016 report and the last report in 2014?

The major difference between the two reports is a significant shift from relying on secondary data to producing our own primary data, which we have done through standardised surveys that guarantee consistency and comparability. The vulnerability modelling is incredibly sound and has been developed through rigorous statistical testing.

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4): What should government and business be doing more of?

Governments need to look more closely at illicit labour recruitment, crack down on the illegal companies that provide conduit in which people end up in slavery, and penalise the companies and individuals that are using bonded labour, either directly or in their supply chains.

At the same time, it is important that we tackle the conditions that drive labour migration by creating opportunities within home countries, and create safe migration pathways.

Businesses are in a prime position to deploy the positive economic multiplier of investment to end slavery, those that don’t actively look for forced labour within their supply chains are standing on a burning platform.

Businesses need to actively address any concerns around modern slavery in their supply chains. This makes good commercial sense, as no business wants to be tainted with the stain of using slave labour, even if indirectly. There is a great opportunity for businesses to work together and with civil society and governments in tackling this issue.

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5) What can citizens do to tackle the problem?

We need to create an ecosystem response rather than a single-actor response.

That means that citizens have a central role to play in eradicating modern slavery.

Awareness is the first step in taking action. Citizens can make important and informed consumer choices.

They can ask difficult questions of businesses seeking their custom.

They can demand information of their governments on what actions they have taken and how effective these have been.

And they can raise their voices across social media channels whenever they see exploitation occurring, whether at home or abroad.