In The News

A Global Alliance Against Forced Labor

May 12, 2005
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has issued an update on its four-year-old report on slavery and other types of forced labor. The new report, issued May 2005, takes a longer view on the issue, describing developments in the last four years and looking toward the future. After defining and identifying the scope of the problem, the group evaluates efforts in the past years to stem the...

Spain Grants Amnesty to 700,000 Migrants

Giles Tremlett May 11, 2005
Going against the grain of regional ideology, Spain this week granted political amnesty to nearly 700,000 illegal immigrants living in the country. This is the latest in several blanket amnesties since 1990. During a three-month period in which illegal workers and their employers could file for the necessary papers, thousands of immigrants, from Latin America and around Europe came out from...

Not Your Average Chinese Worker

Edward Cody April 29, 2005
NBA player Yao Ming can add a new award to his collection: the title of "vanguard worker." The honor, bestowed every five years upon people whom the Chinese Communist Party believes to be exemplary, selfless workers, has ignited debate over what it means to be a Chinese worker. For many in China, the 7-foot-6-inch (2.28 meter) millionaire does not fit the tradition of blue-collar...

In Search of Stealth

April 25, 2005
Today's business climate has spawned a globally mobile workforce. Instead of organizing around geographic regions, multinationals are structured around business units run by teams of globe-trotting executives. And as offshoring and cross-border joint-ventures grow in popularity, executives must spend more time on short-to-medium assignments abroad. This environment has created a new type of...

"Return at Any Cost" Is Breach of Rights

Jamie Doward April 21, 2005
Several human rights groups are alleging that Britain is increasingly returning refugees to places of conflict. In particular, the British Home Office has purportedly been repatriating political dissidents to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where their return means certain imprisonment, torture, and even death. Amnesty International and the Institute of Race Relations, among other...

China-India Entente Shifts Global Balance

Clyde Prestowitz April 15, 2005
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's recent diplomatic visit to India resulted in a number of potentially historic agreements. Economist Clyde Prestowitz suggests that collaboration between the two Asian nations may reshape globalization in the 21st century. The European age of exploration set into motion a first wave of globalization – setting the stage for centuries of Western economic,...

Shipments of Children

Carlos H. Conde April 8, 2005
According to recent UNICEF estimates, human trafficking worldwide is now a US$10 billion industry. Most trafficked persons tend to be children. Filipino officials and NGO-workers are witnessing a disturbing rise in child trafficking within and through the Philippines. Smugglers lure young girls from the impoverished provinces to Manila by promising lucrative jobs in the capital. Once brought to...