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[rada21]

France is holding Europe's first national day of remembrance for the victims of slavery.

Wednesday's day of commemoration has been ordered by President Jacques Chirac, who says the stain of slavery on history must not be forgotten.

He will attend a special ceremony in the nation's capital designating 10 May as Slavery Remembrance Day.

Events will also be held in France's ex-colony Senegal, from where African slaves were shipped to the Caribbean.

On 10 May five years ago, the French Senate passed a law recognising slavery as a crime against humanity.

FRENCH SLAVE TRADE

France mainly used slaves, taken from Africa, in its Caribbean colonies

France estimated to have shipped 1,250,000 slaves

France was Europe's first country to abolish slavery, in 1794

But it was revived by Napoleon in 1802, and only banned for good in 1848

Hundreds of thousands of slaves were taken by French ships from Africa to plantations in the Caribbean before France banned the practice in 1848.

Now Mr Chirac - with an eye on his legacy, says the BBC's Clive Myrie in Paris - wants France never to forget what he calls "this indelible stain on history".

Silence

But the president says he is not just looking to the past. He has promised to fight modern forms of slavery, allowing companies that knowingly use forced labour anywhere in the world to be prosecuted in French courts.

Cities across France will hold ceremonies and activities to mark the day. The city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast, where many of France's slave ships originated, will hold a moment of silence.

Museums and libraries in Paris will also hold special events showing off contemporary manuscripts and artefacts.

"It was imperative that slavery be given a place in our collective memory," said Marcel Dorigny, a history professor who helped institute Slavery Remembrance Day.

"French people who are the descendants of slaves have felt marginalised - forgotten by history."

Critics

But some critics said the commemoration was not enough, and that the government's current policies were still alienating racial minorities.

French MPs were on Wednesday examining tough new immigration legislation limiting entry to foreigners.

"We have to be pleased France has recognised slavery as a crime against humanity... but there are still a lot of paradoxes and an insufficient knowledge of history," said Alioune Tine, secretary-general of African rights group Raddho.

"It seems to be the extreme right influencing immigration policy," he added.

Mr Chirac's efforts to address France's colonial past have also proved controversial on the other side of the debate.

Laws he has championed requiring schools to teach lessons on the horrors of the slave trade have angered some historians, who say the government is dictating how history is taught in the classroom, and ignoring the positive role they say France played in its former colonies.

[angegardien]

Where were you when they were abolishing slavery? You still have that uncle Tom mentality.

[rada21]

how you got to haiti.

The Indian Ocean Slave trade evolved around the Indian Ocean basin. Slaves were taken from mainland East Africa and sold in markets in the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf. In contrast to the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the

Indian Ocean Slave Trade was much older dating back from at least the second century C.E. until the early twentieth century. For example, the oldest written document from the EastAfricaCoast, the Periplus of the ErythraeanSea, describes a small trade in slaves around the second century C.E. Notice the physical features of the Arabs.

[angegardien]

How did you get to America???? Which one in the picture are you?