Walk Free, an American non-profit organization, released a report stating that 10 million people have been subjected to modern slavery since 2018; increasing the total number to 50 million -- 28 million forced labor and 22 million forced marriage. It cited various factors leading to this crisis like Covid-19, climate change, armed disputes, growing consumption tendency, and the failure of governments and economists to find solutions. It defines modern slavery as forced labor, forced marriage, forced doctrines, slavery, sexual abuse for commercial reasons, trafficking in humans; and other forms like performances, selling children and abuse.
It showed that global crises pushed millions of people to forced labor as the case of Covid-19 when the demand for medical equipment spiked dramatically, lock downs and loss of jobs, which created an environment for abuse of migrant workers. Moreover, the economic downturn forced several families to ‘sell’ some of their children and force young girls to get married either to gain some money or to save food. According to the report, the struggles pushed many people to leave their homeland and cross the borders to go to countries that strictly deal with refugees and asylum seekers.
Meanwhile, in response to international accusations, Mauritania issued legislation to criminalize cursing and describing individuals as slaves. It imposed harsh penalties including huge fine and imprisonment. It allocated special courts to handle such cases. These courts consist of expert judges who are committed to combating slavery and guaranteeing compensation for the victims. The courts’ rulings are executed immediately and they cannot be appealed.
The report presented some observations against Gulf countries, particularly the sponsorship (Kafeel) system, which puts expatriate workers under the control of sponsors in terms of jobs and residency permits. It deprives them of their rights, including the right to get another job or leave the country. Workers with a low salary are more affected by this system, as they are often subjected to violence, maltreatment and other types of abuse.
On the other hand, television broadcaster Toni Khalifa read a letter he received from a rich father complaining about his disobedient children. The father pointed out that he raised the children, played with them, paid for their food, healthcare and education , but when they grew up and moved to other countries, they rarely call him.
I sent the following letter to Khalifa and I would like to share it with you.
“Dear Khalifa, many people think that they bring children to the world in order to care for them when they get old. Actually, this is one form of selfishness as no one asked parents to bring children to the world, raise them and then ask them to be grateful. The father took such steps, because he is kind and generous. He should not wait for a reward from his children. We provide food and money to the needy, because they are in need and we do not expect them to return the favor. We also provide love, care and everything good for our children; because they need them. We must not wait for them to return the favor. We should not be sad when our children do not respond to our concern, exactly as we do to them. Definitely, it feels great to receive their love and concern, but it is not mandatory. They should not be forced to do good for us. In most cases, our children treat us like we treated our parents.
Prominent Arab poet Abu Al-Tayyeb Al-Mutanabbi once said: ‘If you do good for someone, you own him.’ This is illogical and it could be considered rude slavery. It implies that those who receive favors from us must become our slaves. On the other hand, Khalil Gibran wrote the most appropriate and humanitarian verse about children: ‘Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.’”
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By Ahmad Al-Sarraf
