According to a Modern Slavery index, the risk of slavery in Asian manufacturing hubs is set to worsen with the economic impact of coronavirus, increased labour rights violations and poor law enforcement. The index prepared by risk analytics company Verisk Maplecroft, for the first time included India and Bangladesh in the extreme risk category, joining China and Myanmar in a group of 32 countries with the worst risk of slave labor.

The risks faced by workers in Cambodia and Vietnam also rose to their highest in four years, taking 32nd and 35th places in the ranking of 198 countries which identified North Korea, Yemen and Syria as the three worst nations for slave labor. Asian garment workers supplying global fashion brands lost up to $5.8 billion in wages from March to May, the Clean Clothes Campaign pressure group as the COVID-19 pandemic led to store closures and cancelled orders.

About 60 million people work in Asia’s garment industry and falling sales have put many jobs at risk. Laid-off workers are likely to turn to exploitative jobs or may put their children to work to cope with the loss of earnings, industry experts say. The affiliates of IndustriALL Global Union, a federation that represents workers in 140 countries, have reported wage cuts in existing jobs as well as removal of facilities such as transport and canteen with subsidized food.

Travel restrictions have made it harder for companies to carry out audits to ensure ethical working practices in their supply chains, said the slavery index, which aims to help businesses identify risk.