Altena was in slavery for 53 years in Niger. “I spent all day pounding millet and gathering water from distant deep wells, sometimes I herded young camels. I also had to collect firewood, prepare meals, milk the camels and goats, prepare tea and fold and move the master’s tent.” These are all heavy and arduous chores. The tent alone can be made up of around 200 goat skins and has to be moved four times a day to ensure that the master and his family are always shaded from the strong sun.

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These slaves are not shackled, but are tied to the master psychologically. The slave owner uses the belief that the master is god, and that slaves may only enter paradise on his or her word.

But in spite of this, slaves have managed to escape. Assibit, having been in slavery for 50 years, decided to leave after she had been forced to stand all night to serve as a tent post during a violent storm. She walked 30 kilometres to freedom.

After years of pressure, the Niger government introduced a law criminalizing slavery in 2003, making it punishable by up to 30 years in prison. It now has the chance to end centuries of slavery, but implementation is key if the law is to have any effect.

One of the most extensive forms of slavery is bonded labour, which alone affects millions of people. It is most prevalent in South Asia, and even though India outlawed this form of slavery almost 30 years ago, followed by Pakistan and Nepal, the abuse is widespread.

People become bonded when their labour is demanded as repayment for a loan. Usually they are forced by necessity or are tricked into taking a loan in order to pay for such basic needs as food, medicine, and for social obligations such as the costs of a wedding or a funeral. To repay the loan, bonded labourers are typically forced to work long hours regardless of their age or health, for up to seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Entire families can be enslaved in this way, with the debt passed from generation to generation. Trapped in this cycle, bonded labourers find it almost impossible to pay off their debts. Poverty, long hours of hard labour, poor diet and lack of access to medical care mean they frequently become ill. Yet time off work due to illness is added to the debt, perpetuating the cycle of bondage.

In India, Tyaiya Lal Shetha was 12 years old when he became a bonded labourer. His father had already worked as a bonded labourer for 10 years after borrowing 3,000 rupees (US $65) from the same landlord. But when he became too old to work, he was told to send Tyaiya to work instead. Tyaiya is now 25 and has been working for 13 years for a loan he never took out. He has to work from early in the morning, ploughing, planting, harvesting and doing any other work the landlord demands, regardless of the hour. In return, he gets 1.5 kilograms of rice, which the landlord requires Tyaiya’s mother collect. However, before she is given the rice, she has to clean his house.

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Content last updated: 03/03/2005

About our expert

Beth Herzfeld is Press Officer for Anti-Slavery International. After studying international relations, she went on to live and work in China. She has also worked as a journalist in the UK and Hong Kong.

For more information on Anti-Slavery International you can go to www.antislavery.org

Anti-Slavery International is the world’s oldest international human rights organisation, founded in 1839. It is the only charity in the UK which works exclusively against slavery.

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