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Forced Labor
Thursday December 22, 2022

The unusual break the World Cup 2022 brought

Joanna Ewart-James

With Lionel Messi captaining, Argentina’s third win 36 years after their second, may not be considered especially unusual. What about host country Qatar? The first tournament to be held in a Muslim nation is a break from a history of past locations – predominantly Europe and the Americas. The break I am referring to is the unusual focus on the experience of exploited laborers. Major sporting events and trafficking tropes Before Qatar 2022, extreme exploitation in the context of major sporting events that caught public attention was limited to the topic of trafficking for sexual

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Other slavery
Friday December 16, 2022

Open letter to FIFA and Qatar ahead of the World Cup final and International Migrants Day

To Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA; Dr Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, Minister for administrative development, labor and social affairs in Qatar: We are writing on International Migrants Day as a group of human rights advocates and over 100,000 supporters around the world urging Qatari authorities and FIFA to commit to protecting migrant workers from exploitation and remedy human rights abuses endured as a result of the 2022 World Cup.   We call on FIFA to: Set up a dedicated compensation fund for migrant workers and the families of those who have died. This amount should at least be

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Supply Chain
Wednesday December 7, 2022

Chocolate companies must pay a living income price for cocoa, says 2022 Cocoa Barometer

Sustainable chocolate won’t become a reality until companies start paying a living income price for cocoa, according to the 2022 Cocoa Barometer. The biennial report, developed by the VOICE Network, which Freedom United is part of, shows that cocoa production continues to cause major social and environmental harm, and that current efforts to tackle core issues are failing. Authors Antonie C. Fountain and Friedel Huetz-Adams also explore the role racism and colonial-era dynamics play in the industry. Problems in cocoa persist; some are getting worse The report finds that endemic

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Law & Policy
Wednesday November 30, 2022

E.U. Due Diligence: We’re running out of time, but this could be a game changer

Photo credit: Philip Reynaers / Photonews / Justice is Everybody’s Business European leaders are deciding on game-changing rules to stop big business from getting away with exploiting people and destroying the planet. But big business is doing everything it can to keep getting its way.   As part of the Justice is Everybody’s Business campaign, we’re calling on you to remind our leaders who they're working for and tell them to put people and planet before profits.  The E.U. Due Diligence Directive risks being seriously watered down At the moment, big business is getting away

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Open Letter to CBP Anti-slavery activists
Friday October 21, 2022

Open Letter to CBP on Trade Data Transparency

This week, the news broke that a group of major U.S. businesses, including Walmart, General Motors and Intel, as part of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC), sent a proposal to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requesting key import data not be publicly disclosed. The following is a joint open letter to the CBP Commissioner calling for the CBP's continued commitment to combating forced labor in global supply chains by rejecting this proposal. October 20, 2022 The Honorable Chris Magnus Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 1300

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