The New Russian Empire: Modern Slavery in Russia
154 years after the abolition of serfdom, Russia is Europe’s most slave-holding nation, in modern terms.
February 16, 2015
1. Russia has the largest incidence of modern slavery of any European or Eurasian nation.
2. This figure is according to the Walk Free Foundation’s 2014 Global Slavery Index, which defines modern slavery as any practice that traps people in modern servitude, including human trafficking and forced labor.
3. Estimated at just over one million, the number of modern slaves in Russia represents 0.7% of the country’s 143 million people.
4. Many of the victims of slavery in Russia come from former provinces of the Russian Empire (and former republics of the Soviet Union), such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
5. The U.S. State Department has reported that, in 2013, thousands of North Korean citizens were being forced to work in the timber industry in Russia’s Far East — apparently with the approval of both governments.
Sources: Walk Free Foundation with additional analysis by The Globalist Research Center.
Takeaways
154 years after the abolition of serfdom, Russia is Europe’s most slave-holding nation, in modern terms.
The number of modern slaves in Russia represents 0.7% of the country’s 143 million people.
In 2013, thousands of North Korean citizens were being forced to work in the timber industry in Russia’s Far East.
