Contemporary Slavery: Understanding the New Face to an Old Evil

May 3, 2012 - PRLog -- 09.00-12.00
27 June 2012
Room P5B001
Paul-Henri Spaak Building, European Parliament
60 Rue Wiertz, Brussels, Belgium


Slavery has long been considered a relic of centuries past, from plantation workers to the forced labour camps of totalitarian regimes.  But today slavery has taken on a myriad forms, some more visible than others, but in all cases representing the deprivation of fundamental human rights to individuals that constitute communities marginalized by prejudice, ignorance or social stigma.

In countries such as Mauritania domestic servitude continues amid a culture of state acceptance and a civil society constrained by lack of resources.  In South East Asia refugees from conflict and repression find themselves trapped in camps without papers and access to legal work.  Meanwhile, and amid Europe’s financial crisis, the desperate and the opportunistic are fuelling a trade in human trafficking, exploitation of minors, and prostitution rings.

Against such as backdrop there is a need to both inform, assess and analyse current policy responses to the challenges of contemporary slavery.  In this effort, Metin Kazak MEP, will convene the conference “Contemporary Slavery: Understanding the New Face to an Old Evil” in the European Parliament, Brussels on 27 June 2012 from 09.00-12.00.

Mr. Kazak commented that “the conference will bring together activists with personal experience of slavery, those campaigning against it, and the actors within the European institutions working to combat it…from these I want to raise awareness amongst my colleagues and bring together those who can make real and substantial change to combat  slavery – a problem that runs through Bulgaria and the world”.

Marino Busdachin, General Secretary of the UNPO, speaking in support of Mr. Kazak’s initiative noted that “the scourge of slavery is as diverse and chameleon-like as the spirit of the human mind but new technologies are making it harder to hide…however responses need to be informed and coordinated, we believe this conference will be a concerted step in that direction".


To attend, please send full name, nationality, date of birth, place of residence and organization to m.vanwalleghem@unpo.org or call +32 251 314 59.

For media queries please contact:
Andrew Swan | +32 472 577 518 | aswan@unpo.org