Slavery remains one of the biggest black marks in human history. For over 400 years, more than 15 million men, women and children were the victims of the tragic transatlantic slave trade, one of the darkest chapters in the history of mankind.
Yesterday, the world marked the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It offers the opportunity to honour and remember those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal slavery system. The International Day also aims to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today. In commemoration of the memory of the victims, the UN General Assembly in December 2007 declared March 25 the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, to be observed annually. The transatlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration in history, and one of the most inhumane. The extensive exodus of Africans spread to many areas of the world over a 400-year period and was unprecedented in recorded human history. As a direct result of the transatlantic slave trade, the greatest movement of Africans was to the Americas — with 96 per cent of the captives from the African coasts arriving on cramped slave ships at ports in South America and the Caribbean Islands.
From 1501 to 1830, four Africans crossed the Atlantic for every one European, making the demographics of the Americas in that era more of an extension of the African diaspora than a European one. The legacy of this migration is still evident today, with large populations of people of African descent living throughout the Americas. Movies such as the acclaimed “12 Years a Slave” have raised awareness of the deep societal problems created by slavery. The Theme for 2017, “Remember Slavery: Recognizing the Legacy and Contributions of People of African Descent” focuses on specific consequences of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, namely, the ways in which enslaved Africans and their descendants influenced and continue to shape societies around the world, including in the areas of technology and culture. It also highlights the persistent spirit and innovation of the people in communities affected by the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
In order to remember the victims, a new exhibit entitled “A Legacy of Black Achievement,” is being displayed in the Visitors’ Lobby at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 8 to 29 March 2017. Produced by the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, the exhibit features 21 notable personalities of various backgrounds, eras, regions and disciplines, who paved the way for civil rights, human rights, recognition and justice for people of African descent in Africa, Europe, the Americas and across the globe. A permanent memorial has also been erected at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The unveiling took place on 25 March 2015. The winning design for the memorial is named the Ark of Return. Interestingly, it was designed by Rodney Leon, an American architect of Haitian descent.
While transatlantic slavery is a dark chapter in the collective history of mankind, it would be naïve to think that slavery is dead and gone. On the other hand, it is alive and well in many parts of the world. Indeed, this day must be used as a springboard to take action against all modern forms of slavery and human trafficking.
Modern slavery or forced labour is usually called a “hidden crime” as the perpetrators operate behind a veil of secrecy. Modern slavery rarely uses the shackles, whips, ships’ holds and slave markets historically associated with the transatlantic slave trade of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The world has indeed come a long way since the UK’s Abolition Act of 1833 and Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, but the International Labour Organization says, over 21 million people remain in forced labour worldwide.
Over 11.5 million of these are in the Asia-Pacific. Modern slavery is a profitable business that generates more than US$ 150 billion worldwide for global organized crime rings - a figure which explains the slave-economy’s enduring existence. Modern slavery comes in many forms - such as forced labour, bonded labour, illegal immigrant blackmailed labour and sex trade labour.
Women and children are especially vulnerable to trafficking and forced labour. They are also often subject to physical and sexual abuse. There are also many instances, especially, in the Middle East where migrant women are forced to work almost as slaves, with some employers dodging pay and stipulated working conditions.
Some countries have passed new laws to combat modern slavery. In 2015, the United Kingdom passed the Modern Slavery Act to deal with some aspects of this insidious practice.
The Act included measures to make UK companies investigate their supply-chains (domestic and foreign) for evidence of modern slavery practices and then publicly report their findings and what they would do about them.
The United Nations has warned that conflict and poverty are fueling human trafficking and modern slavery. “Trafficking networks have gone global,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council last week during a special session on the issue. “As people take to the road, predators take advantage,” Secretary-General Guterres said. Refugee camps have become a fertile hunting ground for traffickers to find new victims. He said, victims can be found in 106 countries.
The victims are used as forced labor, sex slaves, coerced into prostitution, or involuntarily recruited into armed groups. Some even have had their organs removed by traffickers to sell on the illegal transplant market.
For organized crime networks, human trafficking is a low-risk, high-reward criminal business, says Yury Fedotov, head of the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime. He has noted that low conviction rates for perpetrators let traffickers operate with near-impunity. The conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and elsewhere are also churning out millions of desperate and vulnerable people susceptible to human traffickers. Nearly half of all refugees are children, many of whom are unaccompanied and therefore, especially vulnerable. More than 70 percent of migrants moving from North Africa to Europe have experienced exploitation and human trafficking. Terror groups also engage in enslavement and forced labour, while drug traffickers use kidnapping and ransom to finance their operations.
The world must come together to end this scourge. Even as the world marks the end of transatlantic slavery, we must remember that new forms of slavery have taken its place. It must necessarily be an international effort, since the perpetrators have made it a global operation. The abolition of all forms of modern slavery must be considered as a global priority by the UN and its member countries.