Weblog special: slavery in Africa Mystery surrounds the fate of up to 180 west African children said to have been on board a ship turned away from ports in Gabon and Cameroon. The children were thought to have been intended to have been sold into slavery: but the MV Etireno has returned to Benin with few chlidren on board. Here is our pick of reads on slavery and human trafficking in Africa.
The legacy
After colonialism Africana.com points out that it took until the late 1920s for the last colonial slaves to be emancipated in Africa. It suggests that class discrimination, rather than race discrimination, is to blame - and that the lack of a clear act of emancipation led to the kinds of exploitation that persist today. Source: Africana.com Shameful chains of the past - Scotsman
Chocolate slaves The Daily Telegraph explores the fate of "chocolate slaves" who work in west African cocoa plantations. It juxtaposes the reassurances of manufacturers with the concern of the foreign office. Source: Telegraph
Maimouna's story Here is the transcript of a short 1999 video on child trafficking to Gabon, which interviews both victim and a trafficker. Source: Phoenix TV
Opposing the trade Titi Abubakar, wife of the vice-president of Nigeria, has founded an organisation dedicated to eradicating the trafficking of women and child labour. She speaks to the News, a weekly news magazine from Lagos. Source: AllAfrica.com
The media event "All this for nothing," said a Benin port director when the MV Etireno returned. But as this Washington Post article demonstrates, the international profile of the problem has been raised. Source: Washington Post
What's a weblog?