BLOOD BRICKS: Untold Stories of Modern Slavery and Climate Change from Cambodia
In Cambodia, as in many other countries, economic growth has not led to decent work for all. In fact, quite the opposite scenario has been unfolding over the past years: Poor farmers who are unable to earn a living from agriculture as a consequence of climate change move to urban and peri-urban areas and become victims of forced and of bonded labour which are contemporary forms of slavery. In this way, the economic growth which flourishes due to a booming construction industry has created in itself a trap for the poor and vulnerable. It is a vicious cycle which is enabled by development which is not sustainable. Not for the environment and not for the people who are behind it. To break this vicious and dangerous cycle, the interlinkages between contemporary forms of slavery and climate change need to be understood by the government of Cambodia in order to create viable alternatives. The present report illustrates these linkages in an eye-opening way, shedding light on a so far scarcely researched yet so essential subject.
