FreedomUnited.org

Thursday June 16, 2022

Europe knows what happens to us in Libya

My name is Tesfay* and I was born in Eritrea. When I finished high school, I was made to work as a soldier for the National Service and the Eritrean Airforce. After a few years, I decided to flee to escape the indefinite military service forced on men in my country. This is the story of my experiences in Libya. European governments know what happens to us after the Libyan Coast Guard returns us to Libya. They support them to return us anyway. I want you to know too. The journey I fled to Sudan first, but life was hard there. We were harassed regularly by the police. In 2017, I continued

Anti-slavery activists

Tuesday June 14, 2022

“Until we win”: Domestic workers’ relentless fight against exploitation

“[With the Freedom United] petition I feel like I have people behind me. I feel so strong. […] I feel like people are starting to hear our voice. […] And I hope we don’t stop there, we need to do more and more until we win.” – Lucy Turay, domestic worker campaigner and founder of Domestic Worker Advocacy Network Domestic work is a part of all our lives. Domestic work is childcare, cleaning, looking after the elderly, providing care for those who are ill, cooking, maintaining a home. Domestic work is difficult, requires long hours, is often undervalued and underpaid – and it is

Activists

Tuesday June 7, 2022

Questioning our assumptions about child labor

It’s the time of year again when emotive and resolute messages about stamping out the evil of child labor begin to pop up suddenly on your newsfeed: June 12 is World Day Against Child Labor. You’ll likely be hearing about how we have just three years left to meet the well-intentioned goal of eliminating all child labor by 2025, as set out in Target 8.7 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The Freedom United community actively campaigns to protect children from exploitation, including trafficking and modern slavery. As people join this cause, they often

Law & Policy

Thursday May 12, 2022

Joint Letter to President Biden Re: Thailand’s Abusive Draft Law on Not-For-Profit Organizations

May 12, 2022 President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. The White House Washington, DC Re: Thailand’s abusive draft law on not-for-profit organizations Dear President Biden, We, the undersigned non-profit organizations, are writing to express our serious concerns regarding Thailand’s Draft Act on the Operations of Not-for-Profit Organizations, which the Thai Cabinet approved in principle on January 4, 2022. Passage of this draft law would systematically violate the rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression of non-profit groups, so we urge you to call on the Thai

Child Slavery

Thursday April 21, 2022

Climate and cocoa: why an anti-modern slavery movement is talking about the environment

At the time of writing, almost 180,000 people within the Freedom United community are calling for change from major chocolate companies. Those changes include a call for an end to deforestation and a rapid reduction of pesticide usage. So why is an anti-modern slavery community pushing for improved environmental protection policies in the cocoa sector? Drivers of the climate crisis and hazardous child labor are mutually reinforcing Pesticides endanger children The cocoa sector has become more dependent on pesticides in recent decades as a means of increasing yields. As a result,

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