Bangladesh, Dec. 3 -- The United Nations has issued a stark warning: modern slavery-far from being eradicated-is not only expanding but evolving rapidly through criminal networks, unsafe migration routes, exploitative labor regimes, and state-enabled systems that profit from human vulnerability. Marking the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on December 2, UN Secretary General António Guterres and multiple human rights organizations urged governments and businesses to confront the growing crisis with coordinated, enforceable action. Yet the scale of the problem, and the forces driving it, reveal a worldwide system that continues to allow exploitation to flourish unchecked.

According to the UNs latest estimates, roughly 5...