Links: slavery
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Pakistan through Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent Lens (GFOD Report
Country Report on Status of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent in Pakistan published by GFOD - 2023
Caste discrimination raised at the UN Human Rights Council – International Dalit Solidarity Network
IDSN participated actively in the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council, highlighting the need to tackle caste discrimination through participation at key events, interactive dialogues and oral statements.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Slavery highlights the deep-rooted and intersecting forms of discrimination as main causes of contemporary forms of slavery affecting minorities – International Dalit Solidarity Network
At the 51st Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, Mr Tomoya Obokata, the Special Rapporteur on Slavery, will present his report focusing on the Contemporary forms of slavery affecting persons belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minority communities. Child labour and caste-based discrimination are closely interlinked alongside severe discrimination against Dalit women.
Child Labour, Caste Discrimination Closely Interlinked In India: UN Report (NDTV)
The situation regarding Dalits and modern forms of slavery
Despite being prohibited in many countries, slavery is widespread in South Asia. Forced and bonded labour, resulting in a loss of control over labour conditions and terms of work, is often interlinked with the caste system and related types of customary feudal agricultural relationships.
Feedback from: International Dalit Solidarity Network
IDSN Response to EU Call for Evidence in the framework of the drafting of an EU forced labour Instrument
Mauritania: UN expert encouraged by progress but says more work needed to fully eradicate slavery | OHCHR
Tomoya Obokata, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, today welcomed progress in strengthening Mauritania’s legal framework and building the political will to combat slavery, but cautioned that much work still lay ahead.
Call for inputs to report on contemporary forms of slavery as affecting persons belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minority communities
Survey by the SR on contemporary forms of slavery
IDSN 2022 submission to the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Slavery
IDSN submission to the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Slavery for his study about slavery in the informal sector, to be presented at the 77th session of the UNGA.
UN slavery expert raises concern over caste discrimination in Sri Lanka (IDSN News)
Following his visit to Sri Lanka last week, the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Tomoya Obokata, raised concern over caste-based discrimination in Sri Lanka affecting the lives and opportunities for oppressed castes in the country.
Brief: Dalit women face violence and harassment in India’s garment industry – time to act (IDSN)
Brief and recommendations in relation to the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights – 29 November- 1 December The rape and murder of a 20-year-old Dalit factory worker has attracted attention to poor working conditions and caste- and gender-based inequalities in India’s garment industry.
Recommendations for the 48 th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council (13 September – 8 October 2021)
In connection with their participation in the 48 th Human Rights Council session, states are encouraged to consider the ongoing and systemic practice of discrimination based on work and descent, also known as caste-based discrimination, affecting more than 260 million people globally.
‘Can justice be bought?’ seminar assesses Norway’s new Transparency Act and how stakeholders can address caste discrimination in supply chains (IDSN News)
IDSN Executive Director, Meena Varma, spoke on the all-female panel of the live-streamed event organised by The Norwegian Church on July 31, to discuss the deep structural injustices characterising global production, consumption and trade, and what consequences these injustices have on the most vulnerable.
India must consider untouchability as a form of racism: Civil society tells UN panel
A Joint Civil Society* Contribution to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) for the adoption of the List of Issues Prior to Reporting on India has regretted that despite the abolition of untouchability enshrined in the Indian Constitution, and a constitutional formal prohibition of discrimination on the ground base of race or caste, under the Constitution, Dalits and other communities affected by discrimination based on descent, including Adivasis, still face de facto discrimination.
Modern slavery in India: Patterns of patriarchy, politics, and “progress” – The Norwegian Human Rights Fund
MRG concerned about anti-slavery linked arrests in Mauritania | Minority Rights Group
Minority Rights Group International (MRG) is deeply concerned about the arrests of a former slave, a journalist and two human rights defenders whose work is linked to the fight against descent-based slavery in Mauritania.
Suit: Workers lured from India paid $1.20 per hour for years
FBI agents were at a large Hindu temple in New Jersey on Tuesday as a new lawsuit claimed it was built by workers from marginalized communities in India who were lured to the U.S. and forced to work long hours for just a few dollars per day.
Pakistan’s disposable labour needs attention – The Norwegian Human Rights Fund
The Global Slavery Index estimates that 3,186,000 people are held in modern forms of slavery in Pakistan, ranking the country at 8th place among the world’s 167 nations with the highest prevalence of modern slavery. The most common form of modern slavery prevalent in Pakistan is bonded labour, mainly in agriculture and brick kilns sectors (production of bricks).
Seeds of Oppression: Wage sharecropping in Bt cottonseed production in Gujarat, India (Report – ARISA)
A report by Arisa and her Indian partner Centre for Labour Research and Action (CLRA) are releasing this week. The report highlights a slavery-like reality for many workers working in the seed industry sector. The abuses described in this report, such as forced labour, sexual exploitation, structural underpayment, and appalling working conditions, are still a daily reality in 2021. When these workers question their employers about facts, the narrative is quickly circulated that they are disobedient and this reduces their chances of future employment. If and when you buy cotton clothing ‘made in India’, these practices might be the hidden reality behind it.