Traidcraft Exchange Update

Not this Christmas.

We can’t let this Christmas be the time families are forced back into slavery. For two years Traidcraft Exchange has helped people to break the chains of modern day slavery.

But this year, Coronavirus is putting this work under threat. With no other option, thousands are falling back into unpaid slave labour – forced to sell their freedom in exchange for survival.

The Santal tribal community is one of the most discriminated against groups in Bangladesh, plagued by debt bondage – a system of modern slavery which traps generations into debt, robbing families of their freedom, choices and basic dignities. Few people in the Santal community own land or resources. They work as field labourers, earning a pittance for just a few months a year. To survive the rest of the year, they are forced to borrow small sums of money at crippling rates of interest, in exchange for a promise of future work.

A loan of just 1000 taka - £9.06 - can take three years’ of unpaid work to repay.

For Michail, a father of three, the impact of coronavirus on his family income was immediate. “We could not do any work during the lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic; we could not even leave our home to search for work. Most of the days we have been having only rice

Photo: Traidcraft Exchange/GMB Akash

with salt or rice with one vegetable or only some snails that we gather from outdoors.” Digonto is just 18 months old and the youngest of Michail’s children. He is often ill and Michail fears this is because the family are regularly forced to go hungry. “Because of the lockdown and being unable to leave our home, I had to take out a 25000 taka loan from the moneylenders for my vulnerable son’s medical treatment. I don't know how I will be able to repay this loan or how many years it will take as a debt labourer.” Thanks to the support of people like you, emergency food aid, and supplies like soap and masks have helped communities through the initial crisis. But handouts are not enough.

As people face growing hardships, with no opportunities to earn, many are forced to take on more debt just to survive.

Will you support Traidcraft Exchange’s appeal this Christmas and help stop communities falling back into cycles of debt and exploitation?

Together, we can ensure that this Christmas, families are not forced back into slavery.

If you’d like to donate or learn more about our response to the coronavirus crisis, and the challenges facing communities like Michail’s, you can sign up to our series of emails or make a donation at:

www.traidcraftexchange.org/not-this-christmas

The ‘Injustice Advent Calendar is back! After a difficult year, what better way to count down to Christmas than by making the world a better place? The premise is simple: for 24 days, you get the chance to take an action which makes the world a little bit brighter! Every day during advent, there will be a task – it will always be free and will always take less than five minutes to complete. This year, there will be contributions from the Children’s Society, Fashion Revolution, Anti-Slavery International, Tearfund, and many others. To take part in the calendar visit:

www.traidcraftexchange.org.uk/injustice-advent-calendar

With November already here, now’s the time to stock up on this season’s most ethical gift – the Charity Gift Card! With a perfect option for everyone, from empowering women to combatting climate change, what better way to end 2020 than by choosing gifts which really do change

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The Injustice Advent Calendar

lives for the better?