Private prisons await unsuspecting female victims in Dubai |
HRNI (02/08/2007)  Dubai, August 02, (HRNI): South Asian girls, some as young as 12, are being trafficked to the UAE and other Gulf countries for forced prostitution – a leading London based human rights organization stated on Tuesday. The Ansar Burney Trust reported that girls from poor desperate families in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan were being lured with the false promises of jobs as maids, secretaries and housekeepers. But they were instead being forced into the thriving sex industries of the Gulf region. “The victims are brought to these countries on the pretence that they will get a good job and a decent income to support their families back home. Instead, when they arrive here, they have their passports taken away and are locked in private prisons where they are forced into prostitution” said Ansar Burney, Chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust and a leading activist who has led a decade long campaign to end trafficking of girls from South Asia. One such case came to light just a few days ago, when on 30th July, Miss. Aina Malik – a 17 year old Pakistani girl - died in Dubai due to an accidental fire in her flat. She, along with another girl named Tahira, had been locked in by their ‘owners’. Neighbors managed to break down the door and save Tahira’s life, but arrived to find Aina dead. “She had been trafficked to Dubai nearly 2 years ago when she was 15 and was forced into prostitution. Her passport was taken away, she was locked in a flat against her will and she had no contact with her family” Burney informed. “Sadly, this is very common here. They have their passports taken away so they cannot return; they are locked in a house or flat so they cannot escape; and their families are told of their occupation so they cannot return home because of the disgrace, even if somehow they managed to escape. In the end, many give up the struggle and become a permanent part of this trade” Burney said. Mr. Ansar Burney said that most of these girls are found by traffickers through advertisements in the local papers for maids or secretaries; and through direct contact with "traders" who travel around looking for poor victims to lure. At times, these traders are even aided by friends or family members of the victims in exchange for monetary gain. Ansar Burney Trust can be reached through their website: www.ansarburney.org Press Back on your browser to Return
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