The United Nations has issued a stark warning: modern slavery-far from being eradicated-is not only expanding but evolving rapidly through criminal networks, unsafe migration routes, exploitative labor regimes, and state-enabled systems that profit from human vulnerability. Marking the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on December 2, UN Secretary General António Guterres and multiple human rights organizations urged governments and businesses to confront the growing crisis with coordinated, enforceable action. Yet the scale of the problem, and the forces driving it, reveal a worldwide system that continues to allow exploitation to flourish unchecked.

According to the UN’s latest estimates, roughly 50 million people across the globe are currently trapped in modern slavery. This figure includes individuals forced into hazardous labor, victims of human trafficking, children coerced into dangerous work, and adults compelled into criminal activities under threat of violence. Guterres emphasized that modern slavery is increasingly sustained by organized crime rings that specifically target those facing “extreme poverty, discrimination, environmental degradation, armed conflict, or migration in search of safety and opportunity.” Each of these pressures has intensified in recent years, creating fertile ground for traffickers and exploitative employers who operate across borders with impunity.

The UN Human Rights Council has identified new forms of forced exploitation, particularly in the digital sphere. One of the fastest-growing abuses is forced criminality in cyber-scamming operations. Victims-often lured with promises of legitimate employment-are trafficked into compounds where they are imprisoned and ordered........

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