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Stop the slave trade
by The Ovi Team
2007-03-25 12:10:21 |
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On March 25th 1807, two hundred years ago, the parliament of the United Kingdom passed an act with the name “An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade” and with this act brought an end to the trade that had started in 1562 during Elizabeth I's era when John Hawkins was the first to lead a slaving expedition.
I’m not going to go through the Act, since it is easy to find all the necessary information either using the Internet or searching the UK parliament’s archives. I want to remind you that slavery has only changed its methods.
From South Asia to South America, with kids and tribes in Africa, from women trafficking in East Europe and from the criminal use of cheap work labor in our civilized west, slavery is still here. Unfortunately it is not far from us. It's even in our houses. Refugees and economic immigrants often end up in a different type of slavery working 24/7 for pennies, having to deal with humiliation in every level, violence and often death.
It's a daily event to hear on the news of boats or caravans that try to enter Europe, with people desperate for a better life. These people have paid thousands of dollars to people who don’t care and they are willing to kill them at any threat of danger. It is daily news in all our European countries that people use immigrants and refugees and it is well-known the battle the European Council makes daily against human trafficking.
However, nothing will change so long as we don’t do something as individuals, as long we don’t stop the business in the corner of our neighborhood that uses foreigners like slaves, as long we don’t stop employing ourselves in companies and with individuals that use this kind of labor.
And please don’t tell me that you don’t know any. We all know! They're here, they are everywhere around us. They are working in small take away restaurants, they are cleaning the metro, they are building our houses, fixing our cars, cooking our food and they are nannies and cleaners.
I will never forget or forgive one man who, two years ago, told me here in Finland that if I wanted he could suggest to me a good nanny for my daughter. The man was supposed to be a left-wing supporter, anti-racist and all that, but he was practicing …slavery! "They are cheaper than the locals and they even help with the housecleaning," he added! The worst of all, this woman was his fellow patriot!!!
In Ovi magazine we say loud that slavery still exists in many forms and we must stop it. Furthermore, we remind you, as I said above, that slavery exists everywhere around us and even individually we can do something to stop it. So instead of pride speeches for the 200 years since the UK's “Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade” we’d better act; here and now!
Ovi_magazine Thanos_Kalamidas Ovi-lehti Current |
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