Intl criticism remains over UAE’s human trafficking
1st time in UAE women are charged with forced labor
DUBAI (Alarabiya.net) Men have always been charged as the heads of human trafficking groups in the UAE but on Monday, the country saw its first case of two women charged of forced labor and sexual exploitation of three other women.
The Public Prosecution referred to the Court of First Instance two women for alleged human trafficking, with the specific charge of forcing someone to work without pay and sexual exploitation, for the first time, upon an order from the Dubai’s Attorney-General, The Khaleej Times reported on Tuesday.
The Public Prosecution referred to the Court of First Instance two women for alleged human trafficking, with the specific charge of forcing someone to work without pay and sexual exploitation, for the first time, upon an order from the Dubai’s Attorney-General, The Khaleej Times reported on Tuesday.
Along with the two charged women, two other escapee Asians, including the son of the prime accused, were found guilty of forcing three women to work in a message center, owned by one of the women.
The case was cracked when one of the victims called the police and reported that she was forced to give sex services and said that she is a victim of human trafficking.
The victim said that she was brought to the UAE in February 2010 to work in a women’s message center, only to find out a month later, that she was forced under threat to give illegal and sexual massage.
The Public Prosecution accused the woman of exploiting the victims to work in her massage center with the help of her son. She was believed to have taken advantage of their financial hardship to force them into obeying her, the newspaper reported.
The case was cracked when one of the victims called the police and reported that she was forced to give sex services and said that she is a victim of human trafficking.
The victim said that she was brought to the UAE in February 2010 to work in a women’s message center, only to find out a month later, that she was forced under threat to give illegal and sexual massage.
The Public Prosecution accused the woman of exploiting the victims to work in her massage center with the help of her son. She was believed to have taken advantage of their financial hardship to force them into obeying her, the newspaper reported.
UAE under fire
International criticism has pushed the UAE to tighten its grip over human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The UAE had it first law dealing with human trafficking in 2004 after its non-existence leaving no guidelines for its police force when dealing with the reported cases.
“When women came in police stations to report their ordeal, the police did not know how to deal with them, they did not know under which law to categorize these women's mishap, maybe under kidnapping? “ Dr. Mustafa Alani, the director of national security at the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai, told Alarabiya.net.
According to reports the UAE has applied a raft of measures but concerns still loom over how strict these measures are being enforced.
According to The National newspaper, in 2009 the UAE had 43 cases that appeared before court which include 86 trafficking victims and 125 defendants, with three-quarters of cases ending in at least one conviction.
In 2010 an Abu Dhabi court earlier sentenced a Syrian man to life in prison for running the emirate’s largest human-trafficking ring.
The man charged in absentia, received a life sentence along with seven of his countrymen for operating the prostitution ring. The ruling was only the second time a UAE court has imposed the life sentence in a human trafficking case.
Applying severe measures such as life sentence is helping the UAE in reducing human trafficking, added Dr. al-Ani.
The UAE had it first law dealing with human trafficking in 2004 after its non-existence leaving no guidelines for its police force when dealing with the reported cases.
“When women came in police stations to report their ordeal, the police did not know how to deal with them, they did not know under which law to categorize these women's mishap, maybe under kidnapping? “ Dr. Mustafa Alani, the director of national security at the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai, told Alarabiya.net.
According to reports the UAE has applied a raft of measures but concerns still loom over how strict these measures are being enforced.
According to The National newspaper, in 2009 the UAE had 43 cases that appeared before court which include 86 trafficking victims and 125 defendants, with three-quarters of cases ending in at least one conviction.
In 2010 an Abu Dhabi court earlier sentenced a Syrian man to life in prison for running the emirate’s largest human-trafficking ring.
The man charged in absentia, received a life sentence along with seven of his countrymen for operating the prostitution ring. The ruling was only the second time a UAE court has imposed the life sentence in a human trafficking case.
Applying severe measures such as life sentence is helping the UAE in reducing human trafficking, added Dr. al-Ani.
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