Christian Group Frees More Modern-Day Slaves In Sudan

Tuesday, June 8 2021 by Richard Hunt

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Sudanese Slaves Freed
Christian Solidarity International (CSI)
Sudanese Slaves Freed

Since the beginning of the year, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) has returned 600 former slaves to their home in South Sudan, with further liberation actions planned for the months to come. CSI project manager Franco Majok was in South Sudan to oversee the second slave liberation action of the year that concluded on May 23. 

All those freed – 183 women and 117 men – received a goat, a survival kit, a hoe for farming, 20 kg of sorghum and 20 kg of groundnuts. The amount of food provided was higher than usual due to the current risk of hunger in South Sudan. A medical team provided treatment to one third of the returnees for various illnesses and injuries. 

Bol is determined to forgive his master and forget his brutal treatment, but he says, “I lost the best part of my life in slavery, I am 50 years old now, and don’t have a family or anything to call my own.” 

“There were no issues and everything went well,” says Majok, following the slave liberation. “People were so happy.” 

Two of those who were freed are Ajong Kenyang Akoon and Bol Akech Marol. Ajong, aged 34, was so young when she was captured by slave traders that she has little memory of it. What she recalls all too well is the brutal treatment she received as a slave. During the rainy season she worked long days on the master’s farm for no pay. Despite working hard she was regularly beaten and insulted. In the dry season, she fetched water and cleaned the house. As she grew older, Ajong gave birth to two of her master's children. After meeting the slave retriever, Ajong was freed along with one of her children. 

“I left my other child with the Arab master,” says Akoon. “I was so afraid and I thought the master would come after me and kill me. I feel good to be in South Sudan, but I still think about the child I left with my Arab master.” 

Bol, 50, was working in a cattle camp when Arabs attacked and captured him and others. After being force marched to the north, Bol was put to work in a farm and also looked after the master’s cows. He was always hungry and often alone. He filled his lonely hours thinking about God, and believed it was an answer to prayer when the slave retriever found him. Bol is determined to forgive his master and forget his brutal treatment, but he says, “I lost the best part of my life in slavery, I am 50 years old now, and don’t have a family or anything to call my own.” 

Slavery in Sudan was revived in 1983, when the Arab Muslim government of Sudan began using slave raids as a weapon in its war to put down Southern rebellion against the government’s imposition of Islamic law. The government armed Arab Muslim militia groups, and encouraged them to raid Southern villages, steal their property, and take their women and children as slaves. Tens of thousands of people were captured and enslaved. CSI teams discovered a local network of Africans and Arabs working together to help retrieve some of those abducted into slavery. With CSI’s assistance, this indigenous Underground Railroad grew into a sophisticated network that has managed to free over 100,000 people. It is estimated that over 35,000 people remain enslaved. 

 
  

About Christian Solidarity International:

Founded over 40 years ago, CSI is an international Christian human rights organization, campaigning for religious liberty and human dignity, and assisting victims of religious persecution, victimized children and victims of catastrophe. CSI delivers emergency food assistance, medical treatment, and other lifesaving aid to victims of religious persecution and natural disasters in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Nigeria, South Sudan, Pakistan, and other hotspots around the globe. CSI is currently the only organization working to liberate Christians and other South Sudanese forced into slavery by government-backed forces during the Sudanese civil war. For more information visit https://csi-usa.org.

 

 

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