The Global Slavery Index 2023

Regional: Asia and Pacific (Part 2)

​What are governments in the region doing to address modern slavery? 
Walk Free assessed government responses to modern slavery across 32 countries in the region. Asia and the Pacific scored an average 40 per cent rating on government response, the second lowest score of the five regions. Overall, governments did not have sufficient measures to support survivors or the criminal justice process, coordinate the response, address underlying risk factors, or eradicate modern slavery from supply chains — though responses vary significantly across the region. 
 
Within Asia and the Pacific, there are stark differences in GDP per capita PPP (current international $), meaning certain economies have far more resources available to dedicate
to responding to modern slavery than others. However, on overall government response scores, countries with a higher level of wealth, particularly Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan are taking relatively little action to respond to modern slavery. In comparison, Bangladesh, Fiji, Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Thailand are all taking positive steps to respond to this issue relative to their level of wealth. 
 
Australia took the most action to combat modern slavery in the Asia and the Pacific region, followed by the Philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand. For the first time, Australia allocated a budget to support implementation of its National Action Plan.In December 2021, the President of the Philippines signed Republic Act (R.A.) No. 11596 into law, which effectively criminalises child marriage, setting the minimum age of marriage at 18.
 
The Philippines is only the eighth country in our assessment of the region to do so. However, the Philippines has not yet criminalised forced marriage, which remains a critical gap across the region, with only 10 countries having done so. Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, and Malaysia recently joined Sri Lanka as the only countries in the region to have brought the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 into force.
 
North Korea and Iran still demonstrate the weakest response to modern slavery, reflecting a lack of political will to address modern slavery and, in the case of North Korea, the active use of state-imposed forced labour. For many Pacific Island countries, the challenge of operating in resource constrained environments largely accounts for existing gaps in the response to modern slavery.
 
Many countries in the region took further action to combat modern slavery since the last edition of the Global Slavery Index in 2018. For example, since then, Palau, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Nepal, and Pakistan acceded to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. Brunei Darussalam finalised a National Action Plan on human trafficking and established a National Committee on Trafficking in Persons.Palau, which was not included in the previous edition of the GSI, has also made significant strides in improving the modern slavery response over the last four years, during which it set up a coordinating body and adopted a National Action Plan, ratified the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182),and established a trafficking hotline.
 
There are significant gaps in legislative frameworks to combat modern slavery across the region. Nine countries in Asia and the Pacific have stated in legislation that survivors are not to be treated as criminals for conduct that occurred while under
the control of criminals. However, even where this protection exists, it is not always implemented in practice. A total of 19 countries in the region treated survivors of modern slavery as criminals. For example, in 2020, 81 returned migrant workers who had been exploited in Viet Nam were jailed in Bangladesh.
 
This is not the only gap between policy and practice. While almost all countries have criminalised corruption, there were reports that official complicity in modern slavery cases were not investigated in 19 countries. In India, officials allegedly received bribes from traffickers in exchange for protection against prosecution, while in the state of Tamil Nadu, local politicians allegedly benefitted from the commercial sexual exploitation of children and forced begging rings. Further, despite National Action Plans in 28 countries, only 11 governments routinely reviewed their modern slavery response and just two countries monitored the government response to modern slavery through an independent entity, such as the Office of the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons in Nepal, which is tasked with monitoring human trafficking in the country and making recommendations to government. More recently, Australia announced funding to establish an Anti-Slavery Commissioner. Of 26 countries that have a legal framework that supports compensation or restitution for modern slavery crimes, only 15 awarded compensation or restitution to survivors in practice. 
 
Labour laws in 18 countries prevented certain groups, such as migrant workers or domestic workers, from exercising their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and only the Philippines has ratified the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). Despite significant levels of regular and irregular migration — largely intra-regional but also to destinations such as North America, Europe, and the Middle East — only six countries had ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 1990 and fewer than half have ratified the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air. Further, recruitment agencies were registered and monitored by governments in only 13 countries, and even fewer countries in the region had laws or policies stating that recruitment fees — a known driver of risk among migrants — are to be paid by employers. 
 
Only six countries took any steps to eradicate modern slavery from supply chains. This includes Australia’s 2018 Modern Slavery Act, which requires businesses with an annual consolidated revenue of at least AU$100 million (approximately US$67 million) to report on their efforts to address modern slavery within their operations and supply chains. In 2022, New Zealand also proposed legislation to prevent modern slavery within business supply chains.
 
Regional cooperation through the Bali Process Government and Business Forum 
The Bali Process Government and Business Forum provides a unique platform for government and business leaders from 45 countries across the Asia-Pacific to collaborate on initiatives with the joint goal of eradicating modern slavery. Its “Acknowledge. Act. Advance.” Framework was the first major policy document agreed upon by the private and public sectors to tackle issues of human trafficking and forced labour in the region. It focuses on the pillars of supply chain transparency, ethical recruitment, and worker protection and redress. 
 
At the high-level meeting in February 2023, many business leaders called on their own governments to introduce robust legislation addressing modern slavery offences, noting that such legislation can create a level playing field for those businesses complying with their human rights obligations. Future plans include a series of regional events to raise awareness of modern slavery risks and promote closer collaboration between business and government. For example, the Indonesian co-chair will hold a forum aimed at young entrepreneurs, while the Nepalese business leader will host a Responsible Business Summit in Kathmandu. 
 
Promising Practices in Asia and the Pacific 
 
Within the Promising Practices Database, 46 per cent of evaluated programs are delivered in Asia and the Pacific, covering 22 countries in the region. While most programs tackle known forms of modern slavery in the region such as forced marriage, there are significant gaps in relation to debt bondage and forced labour despite the high prevalence of these issues in the region. Over three quarters of evaluated programs delivered in Asia and the Pacific had met some or all their objectives; yet as only 19 of these evaluations featured reliable methodologies with a control or comparison group, the ability to determine lessons learned or identify promising practices in the region was limited. 
 
Walk Free 2023. Global Slavery Index 2023. Minderoo Foundation Ltd. Australia.