UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

09/09/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/09/2025 11:23

Aapravasi Ghat: How A UNESCO World Heritage Site Keeps The Memory Of Indentured Labour Alive

'This is where it all started,' says Vikram Mugon, Heritage Interpretation Manager at Aapravasi Ghat. 'A great human experiment began here - one that changed the world.'

Between 1834 and 1920, over 462,000 migrants - mainly from India - passed through this small immigration depot, heading to work on sugar plantations in Mauritius and beyond.

Men, women, and even children made the long and perilous journey across the ocean to test a new contract-bound labour system intended to replace slavery following its abolition in the British Empire.

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© UNESCO
This small site - just 1,640 square meters - triggered the migration of over two million people globally. Its impact is enormous.
Vikram Mugon
Preserving memory by involving local communities
As the only surviving site of its kind, Aapravasi Ghat represents not just the origins of this new economic system, but also the memories, traditions, and values carried by those who journeyed from their homelands - legacies still cherished by their descendants today.

The physical remains of kitchens, dormitories, and the fourteen symbolic steps each migrant ascended tell a story of hardship, resilience, and life in a new land. For this reason, the site was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2006.

For years, people knew about slavery. But they did not know what came next. This site helped us bring that hidden history into the light.
Vikram Mugon
At the heart of Aapravasi Ghat's mission is community involvement.

'We do not tell the story alone. We go to schools, colleges, rural villages, meet with senior citizens - to hear their stories too. They help shape how we preserve this site,' Mugon says.

The site is currently planning to develop the buffer zone into a cultural heritage district, shaped directly by public input. 'It's not just about preserving the past, but making it live in the present, making it theirs.'

But protecting a site like Aapravasi Ghat is no simple task. Training and guidance from UNESCO have helped the team navigate difficult terrain. 'UNESCO gave us the tools to have hard conversations, how to bring people to the table, how to make conflict constructive.'

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UNESCO's Routes of Enslaved Peoples programme
For more than 30 years, UNESCO has sought to shed light on the history of enslavement and its enduring impacts on contemporary societies through the far-reaching programme 'Routes of Enslaved Peoples: Resistance, Liberty and Heritage'.

Since its launch, the Routes programme has generated new knowledge, scientific networks and memory projects, including the recognition and protection of sites connected to enslavement and the slave trade.

To spark new impetus for this work, UNESCO established the 'Network of Places of History and Memory linked to Enslavement and the Slave Trade' in 2024. Today, nearly 30 sites have joined the network from over 10 Member States - including Mauritius.

For Mugon, this is not just a question of history: it is about connecting the past, the present and the future. 'We want Aapravasi Ghat to be a place where you don't just learn about indenture, you learn about Mauritius, and the world,' he says.
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