Chocolate companies accused of forced child labor; honor based abuse cases; mass arrests of migrants

From Freedom United

Child slavery

Nestle, Mars and Hershey sued over forced child labor

Eight Malians who allege being trafficked as children to Côte d'Ivoire to work on cocoa plantations have brought a new lawsuit against seven of the world’s largest cocoa companies, including Nestle, Mars, and Hershey. Legal documentation describes how some of them worked for years without receiving any pay. This is the latest action in a long legal battle for justice in U.S. courts. Read more...

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Forced marriage
Significant rise in so-called ‘honor-based' abuse cases in U.K.

New data suggests that ‘honor-based abuse’ (HBA), which includes forced marriage, is on the rise in the U.K. Reports of HBA offenses have increased by 81% over the past five years, with 1,599 cases reported in 2020 compared to 884 in 2016. These figures likely show just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, according to Imran Khodabocus, senior associate at the Family Law Company. Read more...

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Forced labor
Mass arrests of migrants in Libya: who stands to profit?

After the most recent wave of violent, indiscriminate arrests of migrants, Omer Karasapan of The Brookings Institution explores the financial motives behind migrant detention and exploitation in Libya. The EU continues to support the Libyan coast guard in returning migrants to extremely dangerous and unsanitary detention centers where militias profit from enslaving and extorting them. Read more...

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Miriam Karmali
Freedom United