Iddar Ag Ogazide, a black Tamasheq, was born in 1973 at Tinahamma near Ansongo in northern Mali, 1350km north of Bamako. His family have been owned by the Touareg Ag Baye family at Intakabarte for several generations. In March this year Iddar finally decided he had had enough and made a dramatic escape.
“I was born into slavery because my mother was a slave. My owner’s family had bought her grandmother, so that made our whole family inheritable slaves.
“It is not a real life, the work is very hard. I had to do everything in my master’s house. I looked after the large flock of sheep alone, collected the water and did all the heavy domestic work. I worked day and night and I never received any money.
“I never went to school. As I got older I got used to the beating. In particular I remember one horrible day when the sons of my masters, who were younger than me, hit me three times with a stick, on the pretext that I had lost one of the flock. I was scared that if I reacted I might kill someone.
“Every year we were listed on the religious tax inventory like other goods that the master owned.
“Slavery by inheritance means my children are also slaves. My son Ahmed was barely three years old when a niece of the master got married. They took Ahmed away from me to work in her service. They thought he could do little jobs like make the fires. They like to enslave the children early so that they grow up understanding their place.
“Ahmed belonged to the family so there was nothing I could do. I was so sad. I spent 50 days pleading with them to give me my son back, but they refused. I was so shocked; I worried so much I could not sleep.
“Finally I decided I would have to go and get him so I hatched a plan. I told my master that I needed to take Ahmed with my wife Takwalet to her parents’ home. I said we would both return the next day, but we never went back. It was hard to persuade them to let me go [to Takwalet’s parents’ home], but I managed. It was so frightening to leave, thinking they might come after me. Fortunately when I got to Gao there were many people here to help me.
“I was really unhappy because I had to leave my two brothers in slavery - they are still there and I can’t get them out.
“Life is not easy now, but at least I am a free man. I am among men who are the same colour as me who consider me as a man. I don’t suffer any discrimination here in Gao. I am proud to use my full name these days - before I used to only use the name Iddar but now I use my father’s name too.
“People respect me - I earn my own money and that brings respect. I start work as a builder every day at 7am, and earn US$2. But I know that in today’s world if you are poor you are not given the same consideration as people who have money.
“Sometimes escaped slaves when they come to Gao change their names to become unknown. Perhaps I might change my name, so that if my master comes looking for me he won’t be able to find me.
“My dream is that I will one day have justice. I have worked since the day I was born but I have never been paid. I am more than 35 years old now. I want compensation for that. If I got some money I could build myself a house in Gao and live in peace. I could go and get my brothers and we could all live together as a family.”
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
