Investigating Modern Slavery in Sumba

Imaginez une île située à deux heures de vol de Bali, à quatre heures de Jakarta.

Cette île s'appelle Sumba.

Nous sommes en 2026 et des esclaves vivent encore là-bas.

En discutant avec un ami à Jakarta, j'ai appris l'existence de ce système

il y a six mois.

Nous avons enquêté, nous avons réussi grâce à une activiste sur place

à rencontrer énormément de gens.

Ce reportage est édifiant et montre à quel point l'Indonésie

peut être un pays varié avec des systèmes sociaux qui datent d'un autre âge.

What kind of slavery is this?

I never heard about it. And when we finally were there,

the reality turned out to be even more complicated than I had imagined.

First time in Sumba, the first time I saw the Atas system up close,

like in this one funeral, where thousands of people are gathering, including the Atas.

And over there, they're sacrificing two horses.

We caught it on our camera, but we decided to take it out

because it was too gruesome. Overall, this coverage,

They're full of surprises, we've got to be ready for anything.

And the fact is highly risky.

We were experiencing a long journey to reach them.

And someone warned us that if the hardline nobles saw what we were doing,

they could harm us right away, or at another time or place.

As a father of two daughters,

I was deeply touched when a male slave showed me a photo of his daughter

who has left to seek a better life outside of Zumba.

Otherwise,

his daughter would end up as a slave in their own homeland.

We didn't forget to capture the beauty of Zumba,

like the open highlands and also the horses running wild. But if you think about it, The contrast actually is quite striking.

It stays with me. I mean, if you take a look on the one side,

you've got the beautiful open island and the landscape of Sumba,

but on the other side, you can see some people are still tied to the status they're born into.