Our letter to the G7 Trade Ministers: Fulfilling commitments to ending forced labour
Dear Ministers,
We are writing to provide recommendations for how the G7 can build upon the commitments it made in Cornwall, 2021, to address forced labour in global supply chains and in the digital economy. We were pleased to see forced labour highlighted in the Carbis Bay G7 Communiqué as an important issue warranting collective action by G7 countries.
Forced labour is pervasive across industries and supply chains, and can be found across the globe. There are an estimated 25 million people in the world being exploited in forced labour and human trafficking, and evidence suggests this number could be growing as a result of a number of global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Egregious examples of state-sponsored forced labour and horrific human rights abuses within China have been well documented. Traffickers make an estimated $150 billion from this crime, which also is linked to corruption, environmental degradation, discrimination, instability and dangerous, unregulated migration.
As Trade Ministers, you were tasked in the Carbis Bay G7 Communiqué to “identify areas for strengthened cooperation and collective efforts towards eradicating the use of all forms of forced labour in global supply chains.” Below are five specific recommendations of efforts and commitments G7 countries could make to advance efforts to eliminate forced labour and human trafficking from global supply chains.
“Eradicating the use of all forms of forced labour in global supply chains,” will be a significant undertaking, and we believe these five provisions, if implemented, would enable serious progress. It is also important to highlight that while forced labour within global supply chains is a significant issue, it is one part of the larger issues of human trafficking and modern slavery. We strongly encourage you to advocate within your respective governments for all ministries – including trade, development and labour ministries – to play an active role in fighting modern slavery within their respective purviews.
The G7 can play a critical role on these important issues, and we look forward to working with each of you to realize the goal of ending forced labour. To that end, we’d like to request a meeting to discuss these suggestions and other commitments you may be planning in detail.
Sincerely,
Kristen Abrams
Senior Director, Combatting Human Trafficking, the McCain Institute for International Leadership at ASU
Ambassador (ret.) Luis C.deBaca
Senior Fellow in Modern Slavery, Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, Yale University
Shawna Bader-Blau
Executive Director, Solidarity Center
Ramila Chanisheff
President, Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Assocation
Anna Canning
Campaign Manager, Fair World Project
Christine Carolan
Executive Officer, ACRATH
Catherine R. Chen
CEO, Polaris
Kristi Davidson
CEO, Offspring
Minh Dang
Executive Director, Survivor Alliance
Blaise Desbordes
CEO, Max Havelaar, France
Luke de Pulford
Director, Arise
Misran Dolan
Director of Business Communications, Uyhgur American Association
John Edmunds
Committee Member, International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China
Joanna Ewart-James
Executive Director, Freedom United
Nick Grono
CEO, The Freedom Fund
Christian Guy
CEO, Justice and Care
Susie Hughes
Executive Director, International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China
Peter Hugh Smith
Chief Executive, CCLA Investment Management
Yuka Iwatsuki
President and Co-Founder, Action against Child Exploitation
Fuzz Kitto
Co-Director, Be Slavery Free
Melissa Lipset
Acting CEO, Baptist World Aid Australia
Shawn MacDonald
CEO, Verité
Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne
Co-Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group to End Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking; Senate of Canad
Kathrine Mulhern
CEO, Restitution
Margaret Ng
Coordinator, Josephite Counter Trafficking Project
Dr. Nyagoy Nyong
CEO, Fairtrade Global
Jasmine O’Connor OBE
CEO, Anti-Slavery International
Wendy Rogers
Chair, International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China
Philippe Sion
Managing Director, Forced labour & Human Trafficking, Humanity United Action
Patrick Quinlan
CEO, Convercent
Akiko Sato
Deputy Secretary General, Human Rights Now
Puvan Selvanathan
CEO & Founder, Bluenumber, Inc
Nina Smith
CEO, GoodWeave International
Keith Spencer
Group Principal, Nexus Lawyers
Alex Thier
CEO, Global Fund to End Modern Slavery
Kevin Thomas
CEO, Shareholder Association for Research & Education
Martina Vanderberg
President, The Human Trafficking Legal Center
Andrew Wallis OBE
CEO, Unseen
Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director, Free the Slaves
Kerry Weste
President, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
Pichamon Yeophantong
Senior Lecturer, University of New South Wales
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