The slavery is coming from inside the UN Human Rights Council | Washington Examiner

by Zachary Faria, Commentary Writer | September 14, 2022 09:16 AM

The United Nations has determined that there are nearly 50 million people living in some form of slavery around the world.

And you can bet that the organization will do absolutely nothing about it.

The United Nations's International Labour Organization and International Organization for Migration found that there were about 28 million people in forced labor around the world in 2021 and about 22 million in forced marriages. That is an increase of nearly 10 million people in modern forms of slavery in 2016.

“Nothing can justify the persistence of this fundamental abuse of human rights,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said. “We know what needs to be done, and we know it can be done. Effective national policies and regulation are fundamental.” Adding on, Ryder said that “governments cannot do this alone. International standards provide a sound basis, and an all-hands-on-deck approach is needed.”

If you expect the U.N. to impose those international standards, you shouldn't hold your breath. The U.N. gives a nearly equal voice to every country, no matter how many millions they allow to remain in slavery or how many human rights abuses they are responsible for.

Somalia, Sudan, and Libya are all listed among countries with crises of human trafficking and “forced commercial sexual exploitation.” All three countries sit on the U.N. Human Rights Council. So does Venezuela, listed as a concern for countries using anti-terrorism laws as a form of political persecution. Pakistan is also on the council, despite being singled out for “the imposition of compulsory labour as a means of racial or religious discrimination.”

The report somewhat sanitizes China's genocide of the Uyghurs, mentioning the forced labor of Uyghurs in “vocational education and training facilities,” but lists China among its offenders on slavery all the same. China sits on the Human Rights Council as well and has an automatic veto on anything that comes before the U.N. Security Council.

The U.N. won't discourage these countries from continuing to participate in or turn a blind eye to slavery. The organization, in its current state, encourages them to continue, giving them the same voice as countries without slavery in the General Assembly and not withholding council seats from authoritarian states with terrible human rights records.

This report is yet another reminder that the U.N. is rotten to its core and should be abolished and replaced.