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Slavery News Weekly: 17 August 2017

August 17, 2017 / Media, Slavery News Weekly The Freedom Fund / @freedom_fund

Each week the Freedom Fund compiles the most insightful and timely news stories about modern slavery. Check out what we’re reading among this week’s top slavery articles.

Australian businesses will be forced to report on slavery in supply chains
The Age, 16 August 2017
The Australian government announced plans to make large companies report annually on measures they are taking to ensure their supply chains are free of exploitation. Under the legislation, companies with a turnover of over $100m must file a public modern slavery report each year.

Lebanon repeals law that allowed rapists to escape justice by marrying victims
The Guardian, 16 August 2017
Lebanon has joined other Arab states in scrapping a law that allowed rapists to escape punishment by marrying their victims, resulting in forced marriage. Rights groups hope the momentum will influence other countries with similar provisions to follow suit.

Third of Syrian refugee kids not in school, despite pledges
ABC News, 14 August 2017
Half a million Syrian refugee children of school age are not in school in the overburdened regional host countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq. The children should have been enrolled by now, but Syria aid has been plagued by persistent funding shortfalls.

Foreign Farmworkers in Canada Fear Deportation if They Complain
New York Times, 13 August 2017
Canada’s seasonal agriculture worker program has been criticised for being poorly supervised, leaving foreign workers vulnerable to exploitation by employers, often denied the Canadian labour benefits they are entitled to and at risk of deportation if they complain about employment conditions.

Europe records biggest rise in slavery due to vulnerable migrants
Thomson Reuters Foundation, 10 August 2017
The European Union recorded the largest increase in slavery of any world region in 2017, with the arrival of more than 100,000 migrants, many of them extremely vulnerable to exploitation, said researchers from analytics company Verisk Maplecroft.


Learn more

For more news and updates about the Freedom Fund, visit our Newsroom. You can also view issues of our monthly slavery research bulletin here.

Do you have a story you’d like to see featured in our roundup? Submit articles at [email protected].

Photo credit: Sanjit Das, Legatum Limited, 2017