Anti-Slavery International's Director, Mike Dottridge, and Algerian human rights lawyer, Mohamed Tahri, have returned from their ten-day fact-finding mission to Sudan during which they assessed the Sudan Government's action to free women, children and men who have been abducted and forced to work in circumstances regarded by many as slavery.

In Sudan from 18 to 28 October, Mike Dottridge and Mohamed Tahri visited the capital Khartoum; Nyala (south Darfur) - where the Dinka Committee, a local organisation working to identify and free abducted Dinka to their communities, is based; Ad-Da'ein - where in 1987 allegations of slavery were first reported; and Abu Mutariq - where the families of many who have carried out raids and captured children originate.

'By visiting north Sudan we have been able to discuss the situation of abductions with the Government and gauge its effectiveness in releasing, rehabilitating and returning these victims to their communities,' Dottridge said.

During the trip Dottridge and Tahri held talks with Government officials, members of the Government's Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC), and representatives of the Dinka Committee on the situation of abductions in the country, slavery and measures being taken to end this practice.

They also interviewed children and women who have been freed and the staff who run reception centres where they are placed before being reunited with their families.

There have been reports from Sudan that as many as 14,000 people originating in southern Sudan need to be reunited with their families. Many of these people were abducted from their homes and some are still being forced to work for others.