In 1981 Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery, and it wasn’t until 2007 that it became criminalized. That’s the sort of fact that is really difficult to wrap your head around in today’s day and age. Yes, various forms of indentured servitude/trafficking bordering on slavery exist around the world to this day, but chattel slavery (where one individual owns another and their descendants) was/is still an issue in Mauritania.
One of the main goals of the U.S. Mission to Mauritania is to work with their government to stamp out any remaining vestiges of slavery that still exist. In the past that was easier said than done, as previous regimes in Mauritania would categorically deny that it was still a problem. Various NGO’s suspect there might remain tens of thousands of slaves in Mauritania. It wasn’t until the current democratically elected government took office in 2019 that the government’s official stance pivoted to actually acknowledging the problem existed. As a result, our Mission here has worked closely with the Mauritanian government to assist/encourage the prosecution of slaveholders. Due to the rural nature of Mauritania, where slavery often occurs in the middle of the Sahara in a codependent relationship, the task is quite difficult.
The demographics of Mauritania also explain the slavery system to some degree. The politically dominant Bidhan or “white moors” are descendants of Arab/Berber populations of North Africa. For hundreds of years they would venture to sub-Saharan Africa and conduct slave raids, and eventually their slaves would be known as Haratin or “Black moors”. In Mauritania, Bidhan constitute 30% of the population, Haratin 40% of the population, and the remaining 30% are typically sub-Saharan African groups that have more recently relocated to Mauritania, usually from other French colonies in West Africa. From an appearance standpoint, it is nearly impossible to distinguish who might have been a Haratin descendant, and in some cases due to gene pools mixing, even distinguish a Bidhan from a Haratin.
If you are interested in the work of our Mission to Mauritania, you can check out the embassy website here. In my day to day life in Mauritania, slavery is not something that is easy to identify and as far as I can tell I have not encountered a slaveholder/slave situation. This might be because I am in a large city away from the more rural lifestyle, but the Mauritanians I meet from all walks of life have been very gracious, friendly, and proud of their country. I could probably write a novel on the history of Slavery in Mauritania, but thought shining a light on the issue in a country most Americans have likely never heard of is a step in the right direction. Both our mission and the government are taking strong efforts to tackle Slavery from the far corners of the country and it is a fascinating time to be a witness to the work being done.
Until next time! -Nick
