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NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > HAITIAN SLAVERY FALLS TO ALL TIME LOWS
HAITIAN SLAVERY FALLS TO ALL TIME LOWS
January 10 2010
Port-Au-Prince, Haiti – One of the many harsh truths of poverty is that it is the children who end up suffering the most. Deprived of not only the basics of survival, children in poverty are also faced with severe limitations to their future with 
opportunities severely limited if not gone altogether. It is in that reality that poverty gains its true strength and its ability to transcend generations, damaging the lives of millions and rendering entire nations impotent on the world stage.
One country that has endured that type of generational decay is Haiti, a country forged with the best of intentions but has largely fallen into disrepair in recent years. Burdened by on and off imperialism, years of dictatorial rule, and little in the way of industry or natural resources, the country that at one time provided a safe haven for American slaves has all but dissolved into a collection of run down houses collected on an island rather than an actual country. Though many believed the situation in the country could not have gotten worse, the harsh financial realities brought about by the recent recession have proved devastating to the people of the nation with child slavery numbers at all-time low across the country.
“According to our research approximately 225,000 children across Haiti live as slaves, or ‘restavek’, as they are called here. Many of those children go unpaid into these positions but we have nonetheless seen a major reduction in these numbers over the last year, exactly the opposite of what we would have expected as many residents start to move into major cities,” said Ed Drucker who authored the report. “The underlying problem stems from aid paid into the country which has been drying up in recent months and years even as governments around the world tighten their belts. This has led to a reduction in the revenue streams being paid to the wealthier families in Haiti and thus made it extremely difficult for them to maintain slaves, feeding and shelter and the like. Unfortunately even as the economy improves we expect this trend to continue.”
With a little over ten million people it’s believed that fewer than one per cent of the country’s population is actually able to afford slaves in the current economy.
“Some people are able to afford two or three slaves, some even more, but the reduction of the middle class has meant that the spread of such work has been severely limited. Homes that may have only had one slave are struggling without any; homes that had five or six are now down to two. It’s really the most dramatic decline we have seen anywhere since the abolition of slavery in the United States,” continued Drucker. “The end result of this is that the families burdened with these extra children are encountering further hardship, meaning that the cycle of poverty that has so crippled the development of the country is going to continue, likely for a number of generations to come.”
One of the major issues for families with these extra children is the inability to fit onto makeshift boats and make a run for the United States, a phenomenon that has all but disappeared in recent years.
“While Coast Guard patrols have served to reduce the number of people making a run for the U.S. the reality is these boats are ill-equipped to deal with the sheer numbers of people trying to get aboard. The additional hands available for construction don’t in any way make up for the necessary durability of these vessels which means they either sink, or people stay,” continued Drucker. “If there’s any upside it’s that other countries, specifically Cuba and the Dominican Republic, have seen increases in the number of tourists, many of whom are seeking opportunities to have sex with children. That provides great opportunities for Haitian families, and families throughout the Caribbean, which have long suffered under the shadow of southern Asia.”
Child slavery numbers have dropped worldwide since the beginning of the recession two years ago.
Emil Uliya, International Correspondent
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