870,000 Human Beings are slaves in Niger

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday May 15, 2003 22:07 by Mali Grace

Although Niger recently passed new tougher laws against slavery, more than 870,000 people - about seven percent of the country's population - still live in conditions of forced labour.

the results of a survey conducted showed that 870,364 people still worked in servitude. The vast majority - 602,000 - were in the southwestern Tillaberry region, where the capital Niamey is situated.Slavery is a long ingrained tradition in this poor landlocked country of 11 million people on the southern edge of the Sahara, which achieved independence from France in 1960.
Over the years, numerous workshops and symposiums have been held to expose the continuation of slavery in Niger. Parliament recently passed a law which recognises "slavery and slave-like practices" as crimes punishable with a prison sentence of up to 30 years.

The International Labour Organization defines as "forced labour" any activity which an individual is forced to perform services under threat of punishment without his or her own consent. This international definition excludes national military service, communal service or work imposed to an individual sentenced to communal service.

In Africa, Niger, Mauritania and Sudan are considered the main countries were slavery persists.
Many slave-owners interviewed said the forced labourers were an inheritance and a responsibility.

"We inherited these slaves from our parents, but I did not know it was slavery", said one Tuareg chief . "They are victims who don't want to leave us".

According to university professor, El Back Adam, Niger's slaves refuse to leave their masters despite the terrible conditions in which they leave, because at least "they have a roof under their head and something to eat."