COVID-19 controls turn Asia into global surveillance hotspot, analysts say
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation Asia has become the world’s surveillance hotspot and is at risk of serious privacy breaches as measures rolled out to contain the spread of COVID-19 become permanent in many countries, researchers warned on Thursday. The Right to Privacy Index published by British-based risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, rated 198 countries for […]
Fears surge in demand for hand sanitiser could fuel child labour
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Soaring global demand for hand sanitiser to combat the new coronavirus could increase the use of forced and child labour in sugarcane plantations, UK-based researchers said on Thursday. Sugarcane is used to make ethanol for alcohol-based gels and seven of the world’s largest sugarcane producers – including Brazil, Mexico and Thailand […]
Coronavirus fuels modern slavery threat for Asian garment workers
Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation The risk of modern slavery in Asian manufacturing hubs has surged and is set to worsen with the economic impact of the new coronavirus, increased labour rights violations and poor law enforcement, a global index found on Friday. For the first time, India and Bangladesh were in the “extreme risk” category, […]
Millions at risk of child labour in manufacturing hubs, say researchers
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Child labour is an “extreme risk” in one in 10 countries globally, found an index on Thursday, urging businesses to be more vigilant about abuses in their global supply chains. Little progress was recorded in key manufacturing hubs India and China, which ranked 47th and 98th out of 198 countries in the […]
Rising heat will chill poor countries’ economies, costing billions
Thomson Reuters Foundation Rising temperatures in a warming world will cost poor countries tens of billions of dollars annually as they are less able to keep their workers cool, analysts said on Thursday. Over the next 30 years, manual labourers in the agriculture, mining, oil and gas, and manufacturing sectors – which are the most […]