Videos of Modern Slavery

This short video by Channel 4 News displays the prevalence of exploitative domestic servitude in the UK. Featuring Voice of Domestic Workers, a group of volunteers who have rescued over 220 women from domestic slavery over the past 5 years, the video depicts the dramatic rescue of two live-in workers from a middle eastern family living in a wealthy part of central London. Subjected to severe abuse and exploitation, these workers then face the UK’s problematic ‘National Referral Mechanism,’ a system meant to protect the trafficked, but often falling short. The video then explores the pitfalls of the UK governments approach to victims of domestic servitude and slavery, with the former UK independent anti-slavery commissioner, Dama Sara Thornton. She speaks of the vulnerability by all who come to the UK under an overseas domestic worker visa, the majority off which are Philipino women. The video concludes with a somber note: these recently-rescued women face the risk of deportation, potentially returning them to a cycle of abuse. The investigation shows that forms modern slavery are still prevalent in the UK, and the government must improve its support and protection mechanisms for victims, while recognising the pitfalls of other laws and legislations.

A contemplative documentary that delves into the issue of modern slavery in three cities across different continents: Nottingham in the UK, Maputo in Mozambique, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Directed by Luiz Eduardo Lerina, the film was inspired by the idea of conceptualising a city space free of slavery. Leading academics provide valuable insights throughout, but they ultimately seek to understand how communities can become resilient from modern slavery. While recognizing the distinctive forms of modern slavery in each city, these experts found there are more similarities than previously thought, and approaches to combating the crime could be shared. The documentary proves ample time for the viewer to have their own thoughts on the topic. While it conveys an urgent message and acknowledges the serious challenges ahead, one of the key messages delivered in the documentary is our attainable chance to live in a slave-free world. To achieve this, the documentary requires the West to question its colonial past. The documentary emphasises the importance of historical context, as one expert asserts, “If we want to understand slavery today, we need to go back to the past.” By skillfully interweaving the past and the present, the documentary offers a profound understanding of the impact of modern slavery on communities and society.

This investigation by BBC Eye explores the ‘pig butchering romance scam.’ Named so as the scammers refer to their victims as ‘pigs’, who they ‘fatten up’ before ‘butchering’. Scammers target individuals online, posing as attractive and successful professionals. They seduce and manipulate their victims, luring them to invest on fake cryptocurrency platforms. The result is immense financial and psychological damage. The documentary features two victims of the scam – Cindy, an American woman, and Joyce, a Chinese woman. The documentary then introduces a second, previously unknown group of victims. Those conducting the scams often do so against their will, trafficked to huge, walled compounds in Cambodia. People from various southeast asian countries are locked up, beaten, and forced to scam. A central figure in the documentary is Didi, a trafficked victim who secretly films his experiences from inside the notorious Huang Le compound. He shared his videos with Global Anti-Scam Organisation (GASO), a counter fraud and human trafficking organisation. By raising awareness about the dangers online, the hope is to prevent future victims from falling prey to these devastating scams.

This award winning documentary reveals an in-depth investigation into the large-scale operation of scamming compounds across Cambodia, where people are forced to conduct cyber scams. Al Jaazera’s 101 East Team focuses on Sihanoukville, a city that has become notorious for criminal gang activity since large-scale Chinese investment in 2019. Victims, who come from various Asian countries, are lured in by false promises of high salaries. They are bought and sold amongst scamming gangs, and are forced to work until they cover the price paid for them. Trapped in the compounds, they endure physical and emotional abuse, as well as extortion. The victims often feel desperate and hopeless, contemplating self-harm and suicide. Underlying this documentary is the connection between the gangs behind cyber-scam compounds and political elites. Many of these political elites have strong connections to Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen. The involvement of Cambodia’s elites with these cyber scamming operations provides a stark reality check in terms of the wide-scale efforts needed by the international community to put an end to these cyber-scamming compounds.

This video reveals the under-reported deaths of migrant workers who have died of heat stroke in Qatar. Across the Gulf, extreme heat is affecting more-and-more people, especially millions of migrant workers who go there to support their families back home. Temperatures that go above 50C, thanks to climate change, can leave workers with life-altering illnesses including heart failure. This video is also available in Arabic. #Forced Labour #Exploitation

A short documentary where the plight of South Asian workers in Portugal’s berry-growing region is investigated. These workers endure hard labour for under four euros an hour, working ten-hour days, with the hope of obtaining an EU passport after seven years. The promise of a better future for their family’s is overshadowed by their indebtedness to the trafficking mafia in their home countries, the confiscation of their passports, and the general vulnerability they face as tourists and migrants. Many migrants are at the mercy of these trafficking gangs, who threaten to cancel their visa applications if they do not comply with exploitative work demands. The documentary sheds light on the troubling reality faced by these workers, who pay exorbitant amounts to recruiting agencies for tourist visas just to work in Portugal. Fees can be as high as 16,000 euros, and are often funded by the trafficking mafia. As a result, the trafficking mafia are gaining more power and control in migrant communities. Despite the Portuguese government’s aim to attract foreign harvest workers by offering citizenship, the documentary raises questions about the potential existence of a system of modern slavery in the heart of Europe.