The threat of modern day slavery

The Senegambia region of the African continent witnessed the forced mass displacement of a considerable portion of the African population in the hope of serving European interests. Transported in inhumane conditions, they were coerced into working on mines and plantations that fuelled the European wealth. In effect, this population became the engine of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and a foundation of the modern-day globalisation that followed.

The world as we see it today is largely constructed through the Western lens. The system of slavery was once rationalised not as racialised violence but as a necessary mechanism to sustain the Western economy. Although slavery has been explicitly prohibited under Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the echoes of slavery continue to reverberate.