Bangkok (
AsiaNews) - Thailand is Southeast Asia's number one country for the number of
slaves : 500 thousand people , mostly migrant workers. This
was revealed by a study of the Walk Free Foundation, the international
charitable organization , which has compiled a list of the nations according to
the number of victims subjected to human trafficking, forced labor or debt to
be paid . Throughout
the world there are about 29.8 million people enslaved .
The
association puts Thailand at 24th place out of 162 countries in question, but
the nation emerges as the center of the exploitation of the Mekong region : the
total number of slaves is the 7th in the world .
The
victims are mostly migrant workers coming from Mynamar , Laos and Cambodia ,
while Thai women are often targeted in domestic work or the sex industry in the
rest of the world. The
study also shows that the trafficking of adults and children is problematic in
Thailand, with their victims destined for the "markets" of China,
Germany , Israel, Japan , South Africa and the United States.
In
Thailand also the fisheries sector gives rise to other forms of slavery : it is
estimated that 200 thousand migrants working in this industry , most of them by
force.
On
a global scale, the study puts Mauritania in first place, with the highest
proportion of slaves in the world relative to its population : 150 thousand
victims out of 3.8 million inhabitants. Followed by Haiti and Pakistan .
In
general , Asia "hosts" three-quarters of the slaves around the world .