Yana Walder Professor Witty Historical Studies Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont 2014 The Interconnectedness of Human Trafficking, Migration, and Culture Specific Discrimination Throughout history and in contemporary times, people continue to strive for a life where basic human needs are met. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly of 48 countries in 1948 is at the heart of global struggle for freedom and fair treatment despite differences in skin color, sex, religion, nationality and social status. Human rights movement is the driving force behind the development of international law and justice around one of the most monumental problems of the last 30 years, the entrapment of human slavery. According the Global Slavery Index, in 2014 there are estimated 35.8 million men, women and children involved in servitude, human trafficking, and bonded labor (6). Of which nearly two thirds are people living in the Asia Pacific region, with India and Pakistan claiming the highest number of people involved in trafficking. Contemporary South and South East Asian region approximately covers the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Pakistan, Burma, Laos, and Yunnan of China. There is an extensive market for illegal trafficking of drugs, forest products, wild animals, arms, but also illegal human trafficking. In his book, 1 Walder