GENEVA, May 11 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 12.3 million people are trapped in forced labor around the world, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in a new study released Wednesday.

    The new report, entitled "A global alliance against forced labor", says that nearly 10 million people are exploited through forced labor in the private economy. Of these, the study estimatesa minimum of 2.4 million to be victims of human trafficking.

    The report also provides the first global estimate of the profits generated by the exploitation of trafficked people -- 32 billion US dollars each year, or an average of 13,000 dollars fromevery single trafficked forced laborer.

    "Forced labor represents the underside of globalization and denies people of their basic rights and dignity," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia in a statement. He called forced labor "a social evil which has no place in the modern world".

    The report is the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken by an intergovernmental organization of the facts and underlying causes of contemporary forced labor.

    The study shows that some 9.5 million forced laborers are in Asia, 1.3 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, 660,000 in sub-Saharan Africa, and 260,000 in the Middle East and North Africa.

    "Forced labor is the very antithesis of decent work, the goal of the ILO. There is critical need for devising effective strategies against forced labor today," said Somavia.

    "This requires a blend of law enforcement and ways of tackling the structural roots of forced labor, whether outmoded agrarian systems or poorly functioning labor markets," he added. Enditem