Couple accused of human trafficking,
illegally confining 20-year-old woman
Mary Nammour
30 June 2010
30 June 2010
DUBAI — A couple and another man faced trial on Tuesday in the Court of First Instance, accused of human trafficking, for allegedly trying to exploit a 20-year-old woman by pushing her into the flesh trade.
The defendants include a Lebanese man and his Moroccan wife, who is a saleswoman, and an Egyptian manager. They allegedly tried to lure the victim, a Moroccan, into coming to the UAE with the prospect of landing a job in a hotel. The couple is also accused of illegally confining her.
The victim said during the investigation how she was offered a job at a hotel. “I met a Moroccan woman back home who said that a compatriot woman hotel manager — the defendant — could arrange for a job for me in the UAE.”
She then gave a copy of her passport and a photo to the woman. She was also made to sign on a paper that said that she had received Dh50,000. “That woman said that it would be like a bond of how serious I am to work here,” the victim said.
Nearly a month after that, she flew in to the UAE. On March 15, the woman defendant told her that her visa had been issued. The defendant couple received her at the Dubai International Airport and took her passport and visa right away.
They took her to an apartment in Al Qusais where she met another Moroccan woman. There, the woman defendant asked her to put on a red dress. She clicked her photos, explaining that she would show the photos to the hotel administration to get approval for her employment in case they like her looks.
Then, the defendant told her that she would work as a prostitute. The victim said that when she refused and requested that she be allowed to return to her home country, she was slapped.
The Moroccan defendant allegedly told her that she had spent money to bring her to the UAE, which is why she should work for her. She threatened the young woman and she was confined to the apartment for more than 10 days.
Later, she was taken to a hotel to have sex with a client, but she ran away by getting into a cab. She lodged a complaint at the Criminal Investigation General Directorate-Human Trafficking Section. The CID officers instructed her to call her sponsor, whose number was written on her visa.
Later, watched over from a distance by an accompanying CID unit, the woman met two Arab men and took back her passport. The two men were arrested. She led the police to the couple’s apartment in Al Nahda in Al Qusais. The couple was later arrested after getting a warrant from the Public Prosecution.
Many Moroccan women’s passports and visa copies were seized. Pictures of semi-naked women were also found. A 40-year-old Syrian Public Relations Manager at a hotel in Diba Al Fujairah, said during the investigation that he sought the help of the Egyptian defendant in hiring dancers.
“We asked him to help in hiring Arab women for dance shows at a night club. He sent a passport copy of a woman — the victim. I issued a visa for her,” the Syrian witness said.
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