Today, February 1st, commemorates the abolition of slavery in Mauritius. Slavery was abolished on February 1st 1835 in Mauritius, which was then under British colonisation, although this abolition was actually in force as from August 1834 in England.
There are countless stories of how badly slaves were treated daily. The most bitter one is probably the one associated with Le Morne: this high hill at the southwest tip of the island was a last-resort hiding place for runaway slaves who climbed its steep slopes in the hope of escaping the sugar-plantation owners' hunting dogs. On the day of the abolition, when several 'delegations' were sent there to announce the good news, most of the slaves thought they had been found out. Instead of facing the possibility of a return to the properties, they jumped to their death from the cliffs of Le Morne...
Human beings treated as property... how many forms of it are there left today? What consequences of that history are still being felt and ignored today?
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