God is "close" to the tens of millions of people worldwide who are victims of forced labour and exploitation, Pope Francis said on Wednesday.
"The Lord is close to all those who are victims of old and new forms of slavery: inhuman labour, illegal trafficking and exploitation," Francis tweeted.
The tweet came on the UN's International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
Almost 21 million people in the world are victims of forced labour - 11.4 million women and girls and 9.5 million men and boys, according to the United Nations.
Almost 19 million people are exploited by private individuals or enterprises- including 4.5 million sexually - and a further 2 million by the state or by rebel groups, the UN says.
