Haratins

African Union to Hold Summit in ‘Slavery Hub’

According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, Mauritania has one of the highest rates of slavery in the world, with an estimated 43,000 living in modern slavery conditions, out of a population of 4 million. The practice especially affects the Haratins, who have been caught in a cycle of servitude enforced by the Moors, the lighter-skinned descendants of Arab Berbers.