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Map of Eritrea Forced Labor
Monday September 7, 2020

Eritrea and forced labor: a history in photos

Photo essay by guest contributor Martin Plaut, a fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, the former BBC World Service Africa editor, and the author of 'Understanding Eritrea.' You can hear him speak with Eritrea Focus chairman Habte Hagos in a special webinar with Freedom United in early October. More details coming soon. Eritrea, on the Red Sea, has been ruled by many nations. The Greeks, Egyptians, Turks and then the Italians held some or all of it. Eritrea has been Ethiopia’s gateway to the Red Sea. In 1935 the Italians, under the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini attacked

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Organ harvesting speak free Human trafficking
Wednesday September 2, 2020

OPINION: Forced organ harvesting could be coming into the UK health system

This article was originally published in Thomson Reuters Foundation. Forced organ harvesting and organ trafficking are interlinked crimes not often associated with the UK. Yet medicines manufactured with human tissue from forced organ harvesting victims could be imported into the National Health Service due to the absence of consent and comprehensive traceability regulations. Victims of forced organ harvesting are subject to abuse and torture. Organs are forcibly removed without consent or through coercion, to then be used in transplants. They are sold illegally to a market of buyers

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Western Aus hand in Forced Labor
Wednesday August 19, 2020

Western Australia accepts our call to action to fight against forced labor

Western Australian Minister for Industrial Relations Bill Johnston, received a petition calling on the Western Australian Parliament to pass the changes in the Industrial Relations Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 which will bring Western Australia in line with the requirements of the International Labour Organisation's Forced Labour Protocol of 2014 (P029) and will allow the Commonwealth to ratify the Protocol.  The ILO has identified eight fundamental Conventions, covering subjects that are considered to be fundamental principles and rights at work. Protocol 29 is part of one of

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Forced Labor
Friday July 31, 2020

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons: Calling for an end to forced labor

On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, members of the Freedom United community joined as we conducted our first-ever virtual petition hand-in. Together, we delivered over 100,000 signatures to the Australian Mission to the United Nations!  Freedom United has been working closely with our partner Be Slavery Free to push for the ratification of the ILO’s Forced Labour Protocol (P29) by the Australian government. Supplementing the Convention 29 of 1930, P29 is a legally-binding instrument that requires countries to adopt measures in the areas of prevention, protection of victims,

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Supply Chain
Thursday July 16, 2020

Mobilizing consumers to push Boohoo to #GoTransparent

In recent weeks fast-fashion company Boohoo has come under fire for labor abuses allegedly occurring in their suppliers’ factories in Leicester, central England. The “Boohoo & COVID-19” report by Labour Behind the Label published in June 2020 and a subsequent investigation by the Sunday Times uncovered disturbing exploitation, including immigrant workers with symptoms of COVID-19 being forced to work or risk losing their jobs, as well as workers being paid just £3.50 an hour, well below the minimum wage in Britain of £8.72. In Labour Behind the Label’s report, they point to

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