Victims of forced labour may also be victims of debt bondage, where they are tricked into working for little or no money to repay a debt.
An employer or a person controlling them (such as an agent) will use different tactics to trap the victim in an endless cycle of debt which can never be repaid and may even be passed on to their families. Poverty, threats, violence, surveillance and imprisonment are used to make sure they cannot leave or get help.
Debt bondage can also be a significant factor in human trafficking. Victims may be offered a job abroad, to include either ‘free’ transportation or borrowing money from the employer/controller for travel and/or a job finding fee.
Once they have arrived, they then find the job either does not exist or is not what was originally offered and are trapped trying to pay off the debt.