Modern-day slavery in Mauritania
The country is one of America’s staunchest allies in the war on terror and the world’s most enslaved nation. Welcome to Mauritania, one of America’s staunchest allies in the war on terror and the world’s most enslaved nation. Sunni Islam is the official religion, and converting to another faith carries the death penalty. As does homosexuality. In 1981, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery, yet human rights groups say up to one in five of the population work in a state of coercion, either dependent on their employers for housing, food and even water or in outright hereditary chattel slavery.