Forced labour, human trafficking, and other forms of modern-day exploitation may seem distant from the lives of ordinary Europeans celebrating Labour Day with a spring holiday.
These abuses are often seen as a scourge of countries beset with poverty, corruption, and crime.
Yet the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 880,000 women, men, and children are victims of forced labour in the European Union.
Many are migrants, but few would guess that the majorit...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.