(C) OpenDemocracy This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Do we really need a Global Commission on Modern Slavery? [1] [] Date: 2024-04 Jimmy Carter is often regarded as the US’s “greatest former president” because of his humanitarian efforts after leaving office. Many former politicians aspire to building a legacy as a respected elder as he did, but it’s not easy to pull off. Tony Blair has screwed up time and time again in the Middle East. Boris Johnson recently endorsed Donald Trump. Enough said there. Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who announced last month that she is stepping down as MP, has similar aspirations. We suspect it’s the main reason why she launched the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking in October 2023. It’s her attempt at a legacy project. Something that re-connects her name with a cause she has long sought to champion. Don’t think May and Brexit. Or May and Windrush. Think May and modern slavery. We have sympathy for her wanting to be remembered this way. The problem is, her actual record on modern slavery is nothing to get excited about. UK policies targeting modern slavery have proven to be ineffective and expensive. The support given to victims is insultingly low. And severe exploitation in this country has hardly disappeared. May was the architect of modern slavery policies that did not work. And thus we are not excited about this new commission. With May in charge there is every reason to expect that it will have little – if anything – new to offer. It will be a tribute band to herself, playing all her old classics one more time. The world has no need for this, and we’ve seen no evidence that anyone outside the UK is calling for it. So we would be happier if there was no commission at all. But if we are going to be stuck with it, we have a couple of suggestions. Can we please have something new? The Global Commission on Modern Slavery: flawed from the start The commission’s website says that it exists to “exert high-level political leverage to restore political momentum towards achieving UN SDG 8.7 to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking”. It’s funded by the governments of the UK and Bahrain – countries both known for having abusive policies towards migrants and migrant labour – and chaired by May, known for her hostility to vulnerable migrants. Its 16 commissioners include academics, numerous CEOs and investors, and a couple of high-profile social entrepreneurs and survivors. There is no representation from organised labour, or workers and their allies. So when imagining the commission, think #businessforgood and #ethicalinvesting, rather than #solidarity, #decentwork and #rightsnotrescue. Combatting modern slavery was a flagship issue for May as both home secretary and prime minister. Her main achievement was the 2015 Modern Slavery Act, which she subsequently promoted at the United Nations and via the Commonwealth. In 2016 May described the act as “an international benchmark” to which other governments should aspire. Yet May’s template was not taken up in the way she had hoped. Its impact was strongest in Australia, where mining magnate turned philanthrocapitalist Andrew Forrest pushed for a local version of the UK legislation. Canada and New Zealand, both British settler colonies, also partly took up the baton as well. The rest of the world never embraced May’s vision. Most governments still prefer to talk about human trafficking, forced labour, and labour exploitation. And many see recent European attempts to couple human rights due diligence with civil penalties as a promising alternative to the toothless, business-friendly transparency provisions of May’s Modern Slavery Act. This is not a global blueprint for action The problem with the UK’s “world leading” response to modern slavery is that it’s not very good. It wasn’t good in 2015, when the legislation was first enacted, and it isn’t good now. There are four fundamental problems: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/do-we-really-need-a-global-commission-on-modern-slavery-theresa-may-modern-slavery/ Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/