Slavery in 21st century

In a report published in 2018, there were 167 countries which had people enslaved in one or the other way. Several sources like the International Labour Organization (ILO) has claimed that more than 40 million people are in some form of slavery today. It is estimated that more than 25 million people are compelled to do forced labour. Out of this, 5 million people are engaged in forced sexual exploitation.

In this article, we will try to find out how slavery has metamorphosed over the years and where it stands today.

Black slavery

In the 15th century, the trans-Atlantic trade came up with a system of slavery that was commercialized, racialized and inherited. In North America, people of African descent were free and enslaved in the 1500s.

Roman Catholic Church played a major role in the 15th century which completely changed the discourse of slavery in Europe. The Roman Catholic Church, in the 15th century, bifurcated the world in half. This meant that Portugal had a complete monopoly on trade in West Africa. And in its quest for gold and land, Roman Catholic Church granted Spain the right to colonize the New World. The Portuguese efforts to colonize the New World was supported by Pope Nicholas V. To this end, he issued the Romanus Pontifex of 1455. According to this, Portugal got special rights to areas it claimed along the West African coast and the trade from those areas.

Not only this, they got the right to invade, plunder and “reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”

Apart from this, Spain established an asiento, or contract, that sanctioned the direct shipment of captive Africans for trade as human commodities in the Spanish colonies in the Americas. Lured by the opportunity, many other European nation-states such as France, Denmark, the Netherlands and England joined in the trade. They also started bartering goods and people with leaders along the West African coast. A new kind of competition began to acquire the asiento and colonize the New World. A new type of slavery came into being due to these continuous endeavours which was promoted by the European nation-stated and was based on race.

This led to the largest forced migration in the world. Almost 12.5 million men, women and children of African origin were forced into the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Apart from this, the Atlantic world that we see today came into existence only because of the sale of the bodies of African origin including colonial North America. Status began to be demarcated by race and class in the colonies.

Slavery in Islam

In pre-Islamic Arabia and adjoining regions, slavery was a part of life. The Quran and the hadith (sayings of Muhammad) talks broadly about slavery, assuming its presence as part of society. According to the sharīʿah (divine law), only those non-Muslims who were imprisoned or brought beyond the borders of Islamic rule were regarded as legal slaves. Apart from this, the sons and daughters of slaves already in captivity were also considered legal slaves. Most of the early converts to Islam were poor and former slaves.

Unlike European and African slavery, slavery in Islamic law is not based on race or ethnicity. Also, it is to be considered that there was no legal distinction between white European and black African slaves. However, in some Muslim societies, they were recruited in different roles. For instance, in the Ottoman Empire, white slaves served as soldiers and government officials, while black slaves served as eunuchs in the palace and the harems of elite families. Slaves played various social and economic roles, from domestic worker to highest-ranking positions in the government. Apart from this, slaves were widely employed in mining, pastoralism, irrigation, and the army.

Sometimes, the treatment of slaves was so punitive that it led to revolts, such as the Zanj Rebellion. Internal growth of the slave population was not adequate to realize the demand in Muslim society due to a number of reasons. This led to massive importation, which consisted of massive suffering and loss of life from the imprisonment and transportation of slaves from non-Muslim lands. Muslim slave trade was active in eastern Europe, west Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. More than 17 million slaves were exported by Muslim traders to the cost of the Indian Ocean, North Africa and the Middle East.

During the 19th century, abolitionist movements started growing which was impelled by diplomatic pressure from Britain. In 1846, Tunisia became the first Muslim country to prohibit slavery. In 1857, the Ottoman Empire banned the African slave trade. In 1862, British India abolished slavery.

In some Muslim countries in the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, slavery was abolished in the second half of the 20th century. In 1962, Saudi Arabia and Yemen banned slavery. Oman banned slavery in 1970, and Mauritania in 1981.

However, in spite of its illegality, slavery has been witnessed in recent years. It has been seen in Muslim-majority countries in Africa including Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Chad and Sudan. As per a 2018 report by Oxygen, there were six major countries where slavery existed. Today, slavery is found in many forms, from sex trafficking and forced marriage to forced and bonded labour. According to The Washington Post, there were 60,000 enslaved people in the United States itself. Let’s have a look at six more countries where slavery still exists.

Countries where slavery still exists

Mauritania (Africa)

In 1981, Mauritania was the last nation in the world to ban slavery. After international pressure, it passed a law in 2007 that talks about prosecuting slave owners. Even after that, the country has been able to prosecute only three cases of slavery. As per the GSI 2016, 1.06 per cent of the population lived in bondage and many children were born into slavery. However, according to the aid group SOS Slavery, 20 per cent of the population was enslaved.

India

Almost 19 million people or 1.4 per cent of the population are said to be living in modern slavery. This makes India the home to the largest number of enslaved people in the world. The modern slavery consists of forced child labor, forced marriage, intergenerational bonded labor, and commercial sexual exploitation, among other forms. India’s slavery issue is comparable to neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh. As per a study, especially poor villagers are susceptible to being enslaved by means of debt bondage and bonded labor. The labor ministry promised to rescue 18 million bonded labourers by 2030.

China

As per 2016 GSI, approx. 3,388,400 people were victims of modern slavery (0.25 per cent of the population) in China. In the country, child and forced labour is one prominent issue. In 2007, police rescued 450 captives including children as young as 14. This issue had made headlines across the major news channels. With no pay, kids were supposed to work 16 to 20 hours daily in brick kilns. Most of the kids were beaten and many times were even burned. Apart from this, they were hardly given sufficient food to survive.

As per GSI, the trafficking of women and children into forced marriages and the sex trade is also a major problem. According to a study, approx. 20,000 to 30,000 North Korean women were living in China and were struggling with different types of slavery in 2012.

Uzbekistan

According to GSI 2016 report, 3.97 per cent of the population were found to be living in modern slavery. The country is one of the largest producers of cotton. However, it pays a great cost for that. The government compels more than one million citizens to work in the cotton fields every year. People who deny risk losing their jobs. If students deny, they are at high risk of getting expelled. After facing global boycotts, it phased out minors in 2015.

Libya

In Libya, 1.1 per cent of the population lived in modern slavery in 2016. In 2015, a CNN investigation had shocked the world by exposing real time slave auctions. A footage of two young men being sold for the equivalent of $400 each felt nothing less than a nightmare. As per a study by Time, many migrants and refugees while trying to reach Europe by sea are trapped in Libya and kept in terrible detention centres. They are susceptible to being raped, beaten, and sold as slave labour.

North Korea

As per the 2016 GSI, North Korea topped in being the biggest offender. It North Korea, 4.37 per cent of the population lives in modern slavery which is the highest proportion in the world. In 2015, North Korea was estimated to have sent more than 50,000 citizens abroad to work in logging, mining and the textile and construction industries. These enslaved people made around $2.3 billion per year for the government. The citizens were sent to Russian, the Middle East and Russia. Under terrible conditions, they worked up to 20 hours daily and earned only $120-$150 per month on an average. According to the New York Times, conditions in North Korea are so painful that laborers often pay bribes to go to Russia.

Are you chained to your desk so you can feed your family? Is this also considered a form of slavery?

This post has first appeared on Shabari Seva website.