The US Department of State has released the 2008 Human Rights Report on Seychelles. Anyone interested in reading it can click here.
Some of the highlights … and reasons I like living here:
There were no reports of street children.
The law prohibits trafficking in persons, and there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.
There was no discrimination reported against persons with disabilities in housing, employment, or education, or in the provision of other state services.
There were no reports of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
There were no reports of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no reports that such practices occurred.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not use it.
Of course, this being the real world and all, the report is not all sweetness and light.
I have to wonder how other countries, the US included, stacks up.
A collection of my short stories:
I'm in this one, too ...
And I'm in here, as well ...
Paradise Preoccupied 
But the economy’s down >>>>http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Seychelles-Paradise-goes-hftn-14745001.html…
Well, it’ll be up and bullish again in years to come,er, so i hope.
Hope i can step on the soils of your island-paradise.
Very interesting article, eyom. Thanks for that.
Since the Four Seasons is right out my back door, I can attest to the “more than two years in the works” biz. The traffic, mess and noise that project creates has turned this bit of paradise into very close to a parking lot.
With the whole world in meltdown, it’s no surprise that a small, overextended country has issues. One good thing, however, is that there is very little private debt here, so although individuals are paying a hefty price for the hole the gov’t dug, there’s not nearly the rate of foreclosures and repos that are going on in other places.
Of course, the reason for the debt-free status of many is that because the rupee has not been a hard currency there has not been the option of credit cards for people dependent on the local money. Should credit be offered at some point, there will be those happily jumping into the hole.
Another side effect of the gov’t debt is the social impact years of handouts has created … but that’s another post.