Page "Slavery" Paragraph 78

In Mauritania, the last country to abolish slavery ( in 1981 ), it is estimated that up to 600, 000 men, women and children, or 20 % of the population, are enslaved with many used as bonded labour.

Slavery in Mauritania was criminalized in August 2007.

The Middle East Quarterly reports that slavery is still endemic in Sudan.

In Niger, slavery is also a current phenomenon.

A Nigerien study has found that more than 800, 000 people are enslaved, almost 8 % of the population.

Niger officially abolished slavery in 2003.

Many pygmies in the Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo belong from birth to Bantus in a system of slavery.

Some tribal sheiks in Iraq still keep blacks, called Abd, which means servant or slave in Arabic, as slaves.

Child slavery has commonly been used in the production of cash crops and mining.

According to the U. S. Department of State, more than 109, 000 children were working on cocoa farms alone in Côte d ' Ivoire ( Ivory Coast ) in " the worst forms of child labor " in 2002.