Albinos in Hiding After Killings in East Africa
Thousands of African albinos go into hiding, after being hunted and killed like animals.
-Margeaux Baulch Klein
Not only do albinos endure discrimination and segregation in Africa, but now many as 10,000 have gone into hiding from hunters who stalk and kill them like animals, says a new report released this week by the International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies.
The body parts of people with albinism, a hereditary condition that causes a lack of pigment in the skin, eyes, and hair, are believed by Africans to have magical powers. This macabre myth has created a market for their dismembered body parts. In the past two years alone, at least 58 albinos in Tanzania and Burundi have murdered by hunters who can sell their arms and legs for up to $75,000.
The latest killing happened in October when a 10-year-old boy was beheaded and had his leg chopped off by albino hunters.
“Wherever I go people start talking about me, saying that my legs and hands can fetch a fortune in Tanzania. This kind of talk scares me. I am afraid of going out alone,” said Mary Owido, a mother of six in Tanzania who is currently in hiding. (Huffington Post)
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