Where Slavery Still Flourishes

Credit: The Guardian

In the West, the word “slavery” evokes images of colonial subjugation of native peoples in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. We tend to think of people suffering terrible experiences on ships and plantations without consent and no pay, but that these experiences are a thing of the past. We are half correct: the act of enslavement in this manner is outdated, but slavery itself is not. Human trafficking remains a serious issue in many parts of the world, often with the same end result - terrible working conditions for little to no pay.

But there’s one country that tops all others, by a wide margin, in the rates of practicing enslavement.

Mauritania is a country you probably haven’t heard of, and almost certainly have not been to. It’s a west African country of approximately 5 million people whose claim to infamy can be found in the fact that it was the last country on Earth to abolish slavery: doing so as recently as 1981, with criminalisation of the practice not occurring until 2007. Even still, the enforcement of this law is rarely put into place. An estimated 600,000 people live in hereditary slavery or slave-like conditions in a country of less than ten times as many people. To date, only one slave owner has been prosecuted.

So why is slavery so acute here, and practiced as such higher rates than its neighbors? What is it about Mauritania that makes it such a hotspot for this form of illegal activity?

Credit: Encyclopedia Britannica

It may first be important to recognise that neither the existence nor the methods used in this form of slavery are new. It has been present in the region for centuries, with Berber raiders enforcing a rigid and brutal caste system against black Africans. This caste system not only survived colonisation at the hands of the French, but also includes hereditary (or “descent-based”) slavery, in which the slave status is passed down the family line - thus allowing the culture of slavery to exist on a generational scale. This is true in not only Mauritania, but the greater Sahel region (which includes Mali, Niger, and other neighbouring countries) at large.

Another main contributor - and perhaps a direct outcome of the longstanding culture - to the prevalence of slavery in Mauritania comes from the national government. Enforcement of laws is difficult and poor, given the country’s vast size of mostly empty desert regions. Mauritania is approximately three times the size of Germany with only about 7% of its population and a tiny fraction of its economy. When the political ability to enforce laws is lacking, these types of activities are able to take place. However, when the government (until only a few years ago) denied that these activities take place at all, they are able to thrive.

In a country as impoverished as Mauritania, many slaves are also forced to rely on their owners as a means of survival. A former slave owner until 1991, Mohamed Salem Ould Hamada says that, “[Slavery] exists because there are problems which are worse: poverty. In many cases, it is slaves themselves who want the procedure. Where problems of poverty continue to exist, slavery will continue.”. Amal Ghazal, a journalist from the Arab Center in Washington DC echoes this opinion, further stating that, “Poverty, the lack of access to education and state resources, and the absence of social ties beyond the household in which a person is enslaved are concrete shackles keeping the country from achieving meaningful emancipation.”.

Fortunately, some progress along the road to freedom for Mauritania’s slaves has been made in the past several years. A UN expert’s recent visit to the country congratulated what progress has been made thus far - particularly surrounding the open discussion of slavery in both political and public forums - but also stated that there is still plenty of work to be done. Without the right legal framework and government willingness to enforce it, even the highest degree and rate of economic development may not be enough to end this deeply upsetting practice.

TAI Score: Degree 2. There is no doubt that the Mauritanian slave trade is cause for concern, particularly among human rights observers. Its impact on international systems, however, is minor. Even among the countries with the highest rates of modern slavery (available here), none of them border Mauritania, indicating a low impact on even regional affairs. Risk assessors will need to exercise caution when dealing directly with Mauritania, but may find the issue irrelevant outside of its borders.