VICTORIA, Seychelles — The Association for the Rights of the Disabled and the Disadvantaged recorded more than 100 human rights violations in 2023, a substantial rise on the previous year, according to its annual report released this week. The figure is the highest in the organisation’s history and covers cases ranging from labour exploitation to domestic abuse and denial of social protection. ARID says the underlying trend has been worsening for three consecutive years.
For the people behind the numbers, the report is a marker of how exposed the most vulnerable Seychellois remain, even in a country that scores well on most regional development indicators. ARID says the most prevalent problems last year were labour and sex trafficking of migrant workers, denial of access to social protection, and unfair dismissal of workers in the informal sector. The report also flags a growing number of cases involving children and people with disabilities.
Speaking at the launch, ARID’s executive director said the rise was partly the result of better reporting and partly of genuinely worsening conditions. The director also said the organisation had invested in training community focal points over the past three years, and that this work was paying off in the number of cases that come to ARID’s attention. The organisation called on the government to expedite the long-pending reform of the Government Organisation for People with Disabilities and to strengthen the labour inspectorate.
ARID has, for several years, been the most active civil society voice on disability and migrant worker rights in Seychelles, and the report carries weight with both local NGOs and international donors. The 2023 document repeats a recommendation, made in earlier years, that the government bring its employment and disability legislation into closer alignment with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Seychelles ratified in 2014. ARID also wants a dedicated hotline for trafficking victims.
The government has not yet responded in detail to the latest figures. A spokesperson for the social affairs ministry said the report had been received and would be studied, and that the ministry would, in due course, provide a substantive reply. Civil society groups have, in the past, criticised the slow pace of follow-up once such reports are received, and ARID said it intended to press for a formal public response within three months.
The report will be circulated to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights later this year.
