The so-called «kidney regions» are the territories of modern slavery
An analysis of modern slavery was carried out by employees of the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University. It turned out that 40-45 million people live in conditions of slavery and exploitation all over the world today. The work of geographers was published in the collection «Evolutionary Regional Studies: Theory and Practice».
Photo: freepik
Most modern slaves — up to 80% — are residents of the countries of the Asian region. In the first place — the Indians (8 million people), the second — the Chinese (4 million), the third — the Pakistanis (3.2 million). The second major regional center for the supply of modern slaves is Africa with the sad «leaders» Nigeria (1.4 million) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1 million).
The main markets for the supply of human resources are in Nigeria, the Central African Republic, Somalia, Madagascar, as well as in South and East Asia and the Pacific region. And the main «recipients», that is, the recipients of this «goods» live in North America (mainly in the USA), Western Europe (Great Britain, Germany, France), North Africa (Egypt), the Middle East (Saudi Arabia), in China, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
“Thus,” the authors of the article note, “there are cases of mixing types when a country is both a donor and a recipient in the system of modern slavery.” In part, such a mixture, according to geographers, is due to the large size of the local population.
The main forms of modern slavery are: labor exploitation, sexual exploitation, organ trafficking and the use of children as soldiers in times of armed conflict.
Human organ trafficking flourishes in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Philippines. In these countries, the so-called «renal belts» are being formed — areas in which the percentage of people with a removed kidney reaches or exceeds 50%.
“As a rule, these are the most disadvantaged areas, where total poverty and corruption determine the economic need for illegal transplantation,” the authors of the article explain. “Among the countries receiving organs, the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom are in the first place.”
Scientists also highlight the problem of the so-called latent slavery. So, in the culture of many Asian countries, for example, in Japan or the Republic of Korea, processing has long been the norm. Formally, such forced labor does not qualify as exploitation, but in fact it is nothing more than slave, forced labor.