Qatar museum opens window into history of slavery

A museum in Qatar’s capital has had a look at the history of slavery in the past and the modern world.

Doha’s Museum of Slavery focuses on Qatar’s role in the slave trade during the 19th and 20th centuries. The aim is to show what life was like in those times.

The present population of Qatar descends from native Arabs and African slaves who were brought to the country from across the Indian Ocean. Slaves would be used to support families and their day-to-day jobs such as pearl diving and date production. After the second world war, they were forced to work on oil rigs.

The exhibition describes how the slave community brought their cultural and ritual influence to the Persian Gulf region.

Another part of the museum tries to make the visitors think about modern day slavery.

As Qatar is preparing itself for the 2022 football World Cup, human rights groups accuse it of abusing its large migrant worker population.

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