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

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Indian brothel owners get first life sentence for trafficking children
Thomson Reuters Foundation, 28 March 2018
Two Indian brothel owners have been jailed for life for the trafficking, rape and sexual abuse of children, an unprecedented sentence in a country where fewer than two in five trafficking cases ends in a conviction.

Overseas migration of female workers on the rise despite reports of abuse
Dhaka Tribune, 28 March 2018
An increasing number of Bangladeshi women are going abroad to find employment as domestic helpers despite a growing number of reports of adverse working conditions and abuse overseas.

Fears rise of ‘lost generation’ as more Syrian refugee children out of school
Voice of America, 27 March 2018
More than 40 percent of Syrian refugee children living in neighbouring countries are not being educated and the number is rising due to a lack of funding and bullying in schools, children’s rights group reported this week.

Child exploitation drives steep rise in number of UK slavery cases
The Guardian, 26 March 2018
More than 5,000 potential victims of trafficking and modern slavery were reported to UK authorities last year, the highest number on record. For the first time, British citizens made up the highest number of potential victims, a shift driven by an increase in the use of child drug mules by criminal gangs.

Pilot scheme seeks to produce first ‘ethical cobalt’ from Congo
Financial Times, 19 March 2018
A pilot scheme to trace the world’s first “ethical cobalt” from small-scale mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo all the way to consumers of electric cars and iPhones will start this week, potentially allowing companies such as Apple to assure customers their products are free from child labour and other human rights abuses.

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Photo credit: Ginny Baumann/Freedom Fund