Labour Day- Grenada

There is an incredible irony that 1 May is Labour Day in Grenada. It was on May 1st 1857 that the first ship carrying indentured labourers from India arrived on the island on a ship called the Maidstone.

What Grenada looks like by sea

There were 300 Indians abroad and the number of indentured Indian labourers would rise to 3,000 over the next two years. Only 1 in five returned to India after their contract ended.

We like to think the slave trade is behind us, indentured labour a relic of the past, however nothing could be further from the truth. Human trafficking is alive and well, all over the world.

Just two weeks ago a group of Nepalese students arrived in Grenada after having been duped into coming to St. Lucia to study. These young people have been lucky and have found assistance under UN policies to help repatriate victims of human trafficking.

However thousands of others are not so lucky, being forced into prostitution, the drug trade, and labour camps. Hopefully we take Labour Day as a time to reflect on our past and how we can work to a better future.