THE RETURN OF SLAVE TRADE BY VICTOR COUNTED From my research, most history books tell that slavery was abolished once and
for all during the 19th century. Unfortunately, that is far from the truth.
Slavery is back with a vengeance, and it’s gone global. So far incredibly the
international community has done little to stop this scourge. But it’s not too late to start. Just as the Royal Navy stamped out the African slave trade a century ago, the great powers today could indeed, must use their mighty militaries to cripple the slavers. The cause is urgent. Currently, between 750, 000 and 950, 000 humans (mainly women and children) are trafficked out of 150 countries each year, mainly in Africa, Asia, East Europe and South America. The demand for their services is worldwide. About half the victims are forced into sexual servitude which gives birth to sexual promiscuity, while most of the remainders are pressed into domestic labor, construction, odd-jobs and Agricultural work. Some very young boys are forced to serve as camel jockeys in the Middle East, and other children are made to serve as soldiers and others pressed to be servants “house boy or girl” which is common in West Africa. And while the lucky ones get the right person to assist them be better persons’ in life. The return of the slave trade is explained, in part, by its profitability. The average sale price for a slave today in some developed countries might range from about $3, 000 - $10, 000 dollars or less. Thanks to low contemporary travel costs (especially compared to the days of the African slave trade) this is almost pure profit. As a result, human traffickers earn about $8 - $10 billion dollars per year. And slavers run remarkably few risks. In most countries, criminal penalties are light on the rare occasions that human traffickers are even prosecuted in the first place. Almost always, slavers use the same tactic to lure their victims. They promise poor people in poor countries good jobs in distant lands. They offer generous loans at exorbitant interest rates to enable the victims to receive forged documents to travel to a new destination, and get established. On arrival in a distant country of course, the promised job never materializes and the victim is forced to work to repay the debt. Slaves as well as their families back home are threatened with violence should they try to run away or inform the authorities. And been the “prey”, they succumb to the “predators”. What is needed to stamp out this practice? There are already plenty of international treaties on the books. In 2000, the United States passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), which has since been strengthened by President George W. Bush. The “TVPA” not only provides a precise definition of human trafficking and imposes stronger penalties than ever before, but also enables the president to impose economic sanctions on countries that refuse to halt the trade. Those sanctions have rarely been used, however. The U.S. Government seems unwilling to let a few slaves stand in the way of its relationship with states such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, both key oil producers and allies in the war on terror. What Washington fails to recognize is that countries that refuse to curb the slave trade are unlikely to be reliable allies on other issues of national concern. Another part of the problem is that some countries even close U.S. allies, favor a very different approach to ending the global slave trade. Some European states, like the Netherlands, seem to believe that legalizing prostitution is the best way to end sexual servitude. Others express the view that by promoting economic development in pour countries, the supply of slaves will be reduced, since people there will have better opportunities at home and will be less likely to fall into the hands of slavers. None of these ideas has much merit. Illegal prostitution has persisted in the Netherlands as a cheaper alternative to the legal version. This economic development offers no hope of ending slavery anytime soon. If the international community is truly willing to end slavery, it would put its money where its mouth is and use military, police, and intelligence assets to do the job. “If possible; can appoint young intellects like my goodself (Victor Counted) to help eradicate slavery globally”. The U.S. Congress could lead the way by instructing the president, when the “TVPA” comes up for reauthorization next year, to engage in international military co-operation to halt this plague. The time has come to tackle the slave trade once and for all, in the interest not just of the slaves themselves but also of all peoples with a stake in the smooth functioning of the global economy. There is more to say but there is a limit to this text. Best Regards, VICTOR COUNTED