15,000 foreigners in forced labour in Germany

17 May 2005

BERLIN – Approximately 15,000 foreigners are trapped in forced labour in Germany, according to a new study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The Berlin-based sociologist Norbert Cyrus, one of the report’s authors, says that foreign victims of forced labour can be found in various sectors of the German economy, including prostitution, construction, agriculture, slaughterhouses, as well as working in private households. According to Cyrus, most victims are forced into conditions of near-slavery through economic circumstances and are often blackmailed or threatened into forced labour by human traffickers.

The sociologist said that Germany’s relaxed visa regime in the years 2000-2003, currently the subject of a parliamentary inquiry involving Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, did not however have any effect on forced labour. “I found no evidence of increased exploitation”, he said.

Cyrus called for better protection of victims and a targeted co-operation of police, labour and immigration authorities, including at the international level.

According to ILO statistics, 12.3 million men, women and children are victims of forced labour or slavery worldwide. The problem is most serious in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, but industrialised countries are also affected, having an estimated total of 360,000 forced labourers.

Subject: German news