Yzaguirre calls on all sectors to fight slavery, human trafficking

Santo Domingo. – U.S. ambassador Raul Yzaguirre on Thursday called on all sectors to collaborate in the fight against the crimes of slavery and human trafficking, which defines, and asked Dominicans to continue as his country’s ally in that struggle, which in his view all communities should embrace.

In a letter to news outlet eldia.com.do, the diplomat said Washington marks the Prevention of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery month in January, and the 150th anniversary of president Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

“A century-and-a-half later president Barack Obama has said that Lincoln’s Proclamation reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the timeless cause of freedom’ and now, as then, we remain firm in our resolve to ensure that all men, women and children have the opportunity to achieve the greatest gifts," Yzaguirre said.

He said those statements are even more poignant today, National Day of Liberty, “a date that honors the day on which Lincoln signed the Amendment outlawing slavery in the United States.”

“Surprisingly, we’re still far from achieving a world free of contemporary forms of slavery. Approximately 27 million people are victims of modern slavery, also known as human trafficking. This is a crime that occurs in various ways,” the U.S. diplomat said, and as examples citing abuse of domestic workers trapped in their employers’ homes; slavery of a woman in a textile factory, or even a girl forced into prostitution in a brothel.