A/HRC/36/43 21. In some African countries, even though slavery is a crime, the practice of slavery persists and is entrenched in social structures and cultural beliefs, and people subjected to that practice are often unaware that their situation is illegal or unjust. People subjected to slavery are often at the bottom of a social hierarchy based along ethnic and racial lines and suffer widespread discrimination and social exclusion; they are in some instances treated by perpetrators as commodities that can be sold, loaned or offered as a marriage gift, and receive no payment for their work. In Mauritania, the Haratine (also known as black Moors) constitute the largest ethnic group. They suffer discrimination, marginalization in the political and economic sphere and are particularly affected by slavery. 16 In the Niger, slavery has been reported to exists in the Tuareg, Fulani (Peul), Toubou and Arab communities, which are hierarchical societies dominated by powerful traditional chiefs. 17 22. In Latin America, in countries such as Guatemala, Paraguay and the Plurinational State of Bolivia, poverty and social exclusion affecting indigenous people in isolated areas often create conditions that enable the continuation of practices such as debt bondage and forced labour. Obstacles encountered by indigenous people in attempting to gain access to the justice system are generally a function of the social exclusion and ethnic discrimination that they have historically suffered, 18 coupled in some cases by a lack of recognition of ethnic diversity by elites and the authorities. 19 A barrier often encountered by indigenous people to access justice is the lack of sensitivity and in some cases lack of consideration by the justice system of their practices and customs (e.g. the prohibition of the use of indigenous language in judicial proceedings particularly in cases where they lack knowledge of the official language). Cross-border migrant workers 23. The Arab states, North America and Northern, Southern and Western Europe, which typically include high-income countries, are major destination countries for migrant workers. 20 The majority of people trafficked for labour exploitation to those regions are migrant workers and are involved in a variety of jobs, including domestic work, agricultural work and construction. The irregular employment or migration status of some migrant workers make them particularly vulnerable to exploitation and creates barriers to them seeking legal redress. This has a gender dimension since large numbers of migrants in unskilled and unregulated sectors are women. 21 A rise in anti-immigrant sentiment in many countries, stricter migration polices and the prosecution for migration-related criminal offences constitute challenges for migrant workers to gain access to justice. Often they are treated as perpetrators of an immigration crime, risking imprisonment or deportation, rather than as victims entitled to protection, assistance and redress. Furthermore, victims of trafficking for labour exploitation are often detained, prosecuted or punished for crimes they are forced to commit as a result of being trafficked. 22 24. Regular migrants who are given work permits can also be subjected to labour exploitation, particularly when their work permit ties them to a single employer. In some countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, and Arab states such as Bahrain, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, migrant workers are 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 8 See A/HRC/15/20/Add.2, paras. 5 and 12. See A/HRC/30/35/Add.1, paras. 34-36. See Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Captive Communities: Situation of the Guarani Indigenous People and Contemporary Forms of Slavery in the Bolivian Chaco (2009). Available from www.oas.org/en/iachr/indigenous/docs/pdf/CAPTIVECOMMUNITIES.pdf. See Julio Faundez, “Access to justice and indigenous communities in Latin America”, in Marginalized communities and access to justice (Yash Ghai and Jill Cottrell, eds.) Chapter 5 (2009). See ILO, Global Estimates on Migrant Workers: Results and Methodology, Special focus on migrant domestic workers (2015). Available from www.ilo.ch/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/--dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_436343.pdf. See Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, An Agenda for Prevention: Trafficking for Labour Exploitation (Vienna, 2011), Chap. 2. As a matter of international law, victims of human trafficking should not be detained, prosecuted or punished for crimes they are forced to commit as a result of being trafficked (see European Union Trafficking Directive (2011/36), article 8).