How gangs exploit female workers

Dubai Police have launched a two-year awareness campaign for domestic workers and recruitment companies to combat sexual harassment and human trafficking.

Brigadier Mohammad Al Murr, Director of the Human Rights Department at Dubai Police, said it was noticed that some gangs were exploiting  domestic workers and forcing  them into immoral activities.

Revealing their modus operandi, he said the gangs involved in human trafficking generally adopt two methods to trap domestic workers.

Firstly, the gangsters receive house cleaners (maids) when they enter the UAE without the knowledge of the sponsor. The gangs then seize the housemaid’s passport and didn’t allow her to call anyone. Then they lock her in a flat in a remote area, forcing the maid to work as a prostitute.

Secondly, housemaids already living in the UAE were lured by promise of higher salary to escape from their sponsors. This encouraged them to flee from their sponsors. But  gangsters then abducted the maids and treated them as sex slaves.

Brigadier Mohammad Al Murr said the campaign would be implemented in cooperation with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs – Dubai (GDRFA), the UAE National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT), the Ministry of Labour, and the Department of Economic Development (DED).  

The campaign, slated to run in two phases in Dubai, would be monitored regularly to evaluate its results in terms of decline in exploitation cases, Al Bayan newspaper reported, quoting Mohammad Al Murr.

There will be periodical field inspections of all 111 recruitment agencies in Dubai, he said, adding that brochures will be printed in nine languages and distributed among the workers at the airport.

Brigadier Mohammad said all sponsors and domestic workers will also be assessed in coordination with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai when applying for visa.

So far, he said, there were no involvements of any recruitment agencies in human trafficking or exploitation of female domestic workers.

Dr. Saeed Al Ghafli, Assistant Undersecretary for Federal National Council Affairs, said the campaign is part of the UAE National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT) strategy to combat trafficking to prevent so-called ‘slavery of debt’ as there were cases of workers and maids paying huge sums to recruitment officers to work here.

Colonel Abdul Rahim Sahfei, Director of the Organised Crime Department at Dubai Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, said there were 37 cases of human trafficking recorded in 2012 and among them 13 were related to domestic workers.

In 2013, the numbers dropped to 13 including four housemaid victims.

“Last year, there were six human trafficking victims, including three related to domestic workers with an average age of 21 years.”

He said the department was providing legal support to 15 victims and financial support to 10 victims.