Message of President Charles Michel on the occasion of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

It is difficult, in so few words and in such a short time, to speak about a topic as shameful and painful as this. A phenomenon so abhorrent, in which humanity turned its back on itself. I cannot forget the emotion I felt when visiting the island of Gorée in Senegal, seeing its pretty houses with their foul prisons located directly on the beach, from which traders in human beings loaded enslaved people onto boats to be carried to their grim fate.

Perhaps silence is the only response possible to avoid causing further pain. Perhaps only silence is noble enough to express the depth of our indignation and our remorse…

And yet… Silence is not enough. Is no longer enough.

What brings us together today is a duty to remember which must be continuously renewed.

This is a page of our history which we must not tear out so that we no longer have to see it… Instead, we must write it accurately. Justly. We must dare to face up to it. Your conference aims to recognise the past, make amends in the present and build the future.

Recognising the past means remembering those millions of stolen destinies. Those anonymous people torn away from their families and countries to be sent to distant lands, where they were mistreated and denied their humanity, in most cases until this killed them. Remembering a time when some believed that the colour of their skin made them superior to some of their fellow human beings. Remembering a time when the most abominable justifications were given for an unconscionable trade in human beings who were treated as objects.

Remembering those legs in chains. Those expressionless eyes and wounded bodies. But also those clenched fists, and the countless number of those who rose up to defend their dignity and denounce these atrocities.

Remembering, too, that there are still, today, nearly 40 million children, women and men who are victims of new forms of slavery. And that the fight against this modern slavery must continue.

Making amends in the present… Perhaps remembrance is an important first step in this process of making amends? Preserving the many sites which bear witness to trafficking in human beings is another. As is teaching about this dark page of our history.

But how are we to do so adequately? Is it not too late to give these millions of human beings back the dignity which others robbed them of? We must reflect and find a way to answer these questions concretely.

And lastly, building the future.

A society can only grow if it looks honestly at its past and accepts it. If it learns the lessons of its successes and, perhaps to an even greater extent, of its weaknesses and deeds of cowardice.

Jacques Chirac said: ‘Slavery is a wound in the history of humanity.’ This wound has left an indelible mark on our societies: racism. Racism which unfortunately remains all too present. As if the worst were still possible. We all need, now, to show total vigilance. We must convey undiminished indignation when we encounter it. And defend those who are suffering in the present day, in the name of all those who were once reduced to silence. And act concretely to heal the wounds left by the abominations committed in the past. Let us fulfil this duty, and work unflaggingly to make it impossible to deny the dignity of others.