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Slavery: lessons from history : Comments
By MA Khan, published 30/7/2009Europeans weren't alone with their slave trade. In some countries it continues to this day.
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A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME
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I am sorry to have to repeat myself but I have already posted the following comment on this subject elsewhere on this forum:
Despite the fact that slavery was abolished officially some 150 years ago, according to the United Nations estimates, there are about 27 million slaves in the world today.
The two main forms of human trafficking noted by a recent United Nations study are sexual exploitation and forced labour. The numbers have increased exponentially since abolition.
Happily though, Australia has managed to avoid the phenomenon. The numbers here are quite modest. Nothing like those 165 000 white slaves deported by the British Government as forced labour to colonise the country - those so-called "first settlers" whose landing at Sydney Cove we joyfully celebrate on Australia Day.
On 12 February 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)published the results of a study of human trafficking in 155 countries. As it so happens, the report was published on Darwin's 200th birthday. Apart from that, there does not appear to be much to celebrate.
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