Slavery Map, today
African Holocaust
Today in the Congo the indigenous people are usually victims of their Bantu neighbors, who have replaced the positions once held by Europeans. Ethnic hatred against vulnerable groups such as the so-called Pygmies (Bayaka) is neglected because it is not as sensational as Darfur or Rwanda. But these people are dehumanized and treated as 2nd class citizens by the Bantu Settlers. The uncomfortable reality is an aspect of the African Holocaust has to be ‘self-inflicted’ horrors which cannot be escaped via the smooth language of evasion.
Sex slavery is a major problem in South Africa.
Women seeking refugee status in South Africa from other African
countries are trafficked by other refugees. An estimated 1000 Mozambican
girls are trafficked to Johannesburg each year and sold as sex slaves
or as wives to the Mozambican mine workers. When identified by police in
South Africa
victims of trafficking are deported as illegal immigrants with no
treatment for being victims of sex slavery. Victims are afraid of law
enforcement and do not trust the police to assist them. South Africa
shares borders with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique and
Swaziland. It has 72 official ports of entry “and a number of
unofficial ports of entry where people come in and out without being
detected” along it’s 5 000km-long land borderline. The problem of porous
borders is compounded by the lack of adequately trained employees,
resulting in few police officials controlling large portions of the
country’s coastline.
Religious
Slavery ( Trokosi ) in modern Ghana is the continuing tradition of
giving of virgin girls to the gods for religious atonement or payment
for services. This was part of many ancient religions in this region
with some connection to Vodun practices.
In West Africa the practice has gone on for at least several hundred
years. Similar practices using similar terminology were found in the
royal court in the 18th and 19th centuries. Wives, slaves, and in fact
all persons connected with the royal palace of Dahomey were called
“ahosi”, from “aho” meaning “king”, and “si” meaning “dependent” or
“subordinate.”
In Ethiopia, children are trafficked into prostitution, to provide cheap or unpaid labor, and to work as domestic servants or beggars.
The only permanent solution is to eliminate the
conditions that perpetuate Modern slavery – poverty. People movements is
largely driven by either conflict or poverty, both lead to conditions
which foster modern slavery. Tackling just the visible head, as many
NGOs are doing, leaves room for the roots to keep recreating the
problem.
Please, see also
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