African Union Calls Transatlantic Slavery “Genocide” While African Governments Enable Forced Labor Today

The African Union has officially recognized slavery, deportation, and colonialism as genocide and crimes against African people. Despite the AU’s resolution and the historical abolition of forced labor by colonial powers, several African governments continue to impose or permit modern slavery and forced labor. These practices include child soldier recruitment, mandatory national service leading to forced labor, and exploitation of migrants in detention centers, with the cobalt mining industry in Congo also implicated.

• The African Union passed a resolution in February 2026 classifying slavery, deportation, and colonialism as genocide and crimes against Africa.
• November 30 is now designated as the “African Day of Tribute to African Martyrs and Victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Colonization, and Apartheid.”
• Despite historical efforts to end forced labor, modern slavery remains prevalent in countries like Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, and Mauritania.
• Governments in Eritrea and South Sudan are specifically named for state-sponsored trafficking, including the recruitment of child soldiers.
• Detainees in Libya are subjected to forced labor and exploitation in government-run detention centers.
• The cobalt mining industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo is also identified as a source of forced labor and child labor.
• Historical African slave trades involved millions of people, with a notable pattern of individuals of similar ethnicities enslaving one another.