Holy See diplomat decries slavery

September 12, 2014

A leading Vatican diplomat decried the actions of Islamist groups as he lamented contemporary slavery.

Commenting on a new UN report on slavery, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, who represents the Holy See at UN offices in Geneva, said that “some shocking forms of contemporary slavery justifiably have attracted the attention of the media and the international community-at-large; these include massive kidnappings and sale of young girls under the false premises of religious teachings as is done, for example, by Boko Haram in Nigeria or by the so-called Islamic State group in northern Iraq.”

Archbishop Tomasi also lamented the “the subtler forms of slavery that deserve specific attention, including the 5.7 million children who are victims of forced and bonded labor, domestic servitude, early, forced and servile marriage, child slave work and caste-based forms of slavery, which affect the lives of so many and are not confined to developing and poor countries.”

 

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Further information:

• Intervento della Santa Sede alla XXVII Sessione Ordinaria del Consiglio dei Diritti dell’uomo presso l’Ufficio delle Nazioni Unite ed Istituzioni specializzate a Ginevra (Holy See Press Office)