Not safe for "Whites" in Tanzania

Drac should be safe.....Michael Jackson, not so!
White-skinned albinos are being killed by their own people in Tanzania, who believe their body parts will add potency to black magic rituals.

In the past week, two Tanzanian albinos have been murdered for their limbs.

Elizabeth Hussein, 13, was attacked by men with machetes and Ezekiel John, 47, had his arms and legs cut off after being shot. Their deaths bring the toll to 35 murders in just more than a year, the Independent reports.

There is similar violence against albinos throughout east and central Africa.

The killings are orchestrated by witch doctors who claim they can make people rich using limbs and blood from their white-skinned neighbours.

In some parts of the country, albino children go to school with bodyguards and the graves of albinos are piled with rocks to deter grave robbers, the paper said.

Many albinos have fled the towns and cities to the remote island of Ukerewe where they can live in relative safety.

The island is believed to have the highest concentration of albinos, or zeru, in the world.

Albinism is an inherited disorder. It derives from a congenital lack of the melanin pigment which protects the skin, eyes and hair from the sun's ultraviolet rays. Some have very poor vision, though not all have red eyes as myth often suggests.

The Tanzanian Albino Society, funded by UK-based charity Action on Disability and Development, has been set up to fight discrimination against albinos in Africa.

TAS attempts to educate albinos about their rights and expose the violent killings.

Telegraph..