- Human trafficking in Saudi Arabia
With respect to
human trafficking ,Saudi Arabia was designated, together withBolivia ,Ecuador ,Qatar ,United Arab Emirates ,Burma ,Jamaica ,Venezuela ,Cambodia ,Kuwait ,Sudan ,Cuba ,North Korea , andTogo , as a Tier 3 country by theUnited States Department of State in its 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report required by theTrafficking Victim Protection Act of 2000 on which this article was originally based. Tier 3 countries are "Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so." The 2006 report shows some effort by the Kingdom to address the problems, but continues to classify the Kingdom as a Tier 3 country. The report recommends, "The government should enforce existing Islamic laws that forbid the mistreatment of women, children, and laborers..."Saudi Arabia is a destination for men and women from South East Asia and East Africa trafficked for the purpose of labor exploitation, and for children from
Yemen ,Afghanistan , and Africa trafficking for forcedbegging . Hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers fromIndia ,Indonesia , thePhilippines ,Sri Lanka ,Bangladesh ,Ethiopia ,Eritrea ,Somalia , andKenya migrate voluntarily to Saudi Arabia; some fall into conditions ofinvoluntary servitude , suffering from physical andsexual abuse , non-payment or delayed payment of wages, the withholding of travel documents, restrictions on their freedom of movement and non-consensual contract alterations. According to international organisations such asAnsar Burney Trust , young children fromBangladesh andIndia are also smuggled to Saudi Arabia to be used as jockeys. The children are underfed to reduce their weights, in order to lighten the load on the camel.The Government of Saudi Arabia does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Saudi Arabia has moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3 because of its lack of progress in anti-trafficking efforts, particularly its failure to protect victims and prosecute those guilty of
involuntary servitude . Despite reports of trafficking and abuses of domestic and other unskilled workers and children, there is evidence of only one Saudi Government prosecution of a Saudi employer for a trafficking-related offense during the reporting period. Some victims of abuse, due to procedural hurdles, choose to leave the country rather than confront their abusers in court. They are required first to file a complaint with the police before they are allowed access to shelters. The government offers nolegal aid to foreign victims and does not otherwise assist them in using the Saudi criminal justice system to bring their exploiters to justice. If a victim chooses to file a complaint, he or she is not allowed to work. The Saudi Government does, however, provide food and shelter for female workers who file complaints or run away from their employers. Criminal cases are adjudicated underSharia law , and there is no evidence trafficking victims are accorded legal assistance before and during Sharia legal proceedings.Prosecution
There is limited evidence indicating that the government has this year improved its prosecution efforts over last year. Saudi Arabia lacks laws criminalizing most trafficking offenses. Most abuses involving foreign workers are dealt with by Islamic law,
royal decree s, and ministerial resolutions; few are submitted tocriminal prosecution . Domestic workers, which comprise a significant portion of the foreign workforce, are excluded from protection under Saudi labor laws. Most cases involving trafficking or abuse of foreign workers are settled out of court throughmediation . In 2004, there were reports of Philippine female domestic workers raped; however, there were no reports of prosecutions. In 2004, theSaudi Arabian Ministry of Labor issued resolutions, among other things, prohibiting trading inwork visa s, employing and exploiting children, and recruiting for begging. It investigated some cases of abusive employers and instituted a tracking system. To date, 30 abusive employers have been barred from hiring workers. The government provides training forpolice officer s to recognize and handle cases of foreign worker abuse.Protection
The Saudi Government has not improved its efforts to protect victims of trafficking but continues to operate three shelters for abused female expatriate workers in
Riyadh ,Jeddah , andDammam . It also operates facilities for abandoned children, including trafficking victims, in Jeddah,Mecca , andMedina . However, the government does not provide shelter to adult male workers. There are no NGOs working with trafficking victims. The government mediates disputes and alleged abuses of foreign workers — including complaints of a criminal nature — and seeks to return victims to their home countries without adequately investigating and prosecutingcrime s committed against them.Prevention
Saudi Arabia’s limited efforts to prevent trafficking include: distributing information at embassies abroad,
licensing and regulating the activities of recruitment agencies, monitoring immigration patterns and visa issuance, and promoting awareness through the media and religious authorities. The government has begun working withUNICEF and the Yemeni Government to prevent trafficking of children for begging. A plan envisioned several years ago to distribute information toforeign worker s at Saudi Arabian airports upon arrival has not been implemented. Religious leaders have preached inmosque ssermon s about the evil of abusing employees.Events in the United States
Saudi Arabians who travel or reside abroad may be accompanied by servants who are held in servitude. It was reported in June 2005 in "
The Denver Post " that a Saudi couple who resided inAurora, Colorado had been accused of keeping their Indonesian maid in captivity for 4 years forcing her to cook and clean.Homaidan Al-Turki , the husband, was also accused of repeatedly raping the young woman. According to law enforcement authorities: the maid's passport had been taken from her; she was paid about $2.00 a day; rapes occurred on a weekly basis. The maid entered the couples service at 17 through an Indonesian employment agency as a domestic worker. She flew toRiyadh and entered their service at a promised pay of $160 a month, but according to prosecutors had received only $3,300 for four years of work. The couple moved to the United States in 2000 accompanied by their maid. The couple was originally charged in federal court withinvoluntary servitude , punishable in cases involving sexual assault withlife in prison . The husband was also charged in state court with multiple counts of sexual assault. The husband was convicted of 12 counts of forced sexual assault, two misdemeanors related to forced imprisonment, and theft for keeping the maid's wages and sentenced to 27 years to life. The case was a high profile one in Saudi Arabia, where the press portrayed him as a victim of bias against Muslims, and said that he would not have been convicted in his own country. The Saudi government posted bail of $400,000. In November 2006,Colorado Attorney General John Suthers travelled to Saudi Arabia where he met with King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan to clear up "misperceptions" about the U.S. judicial system. His trip was sponsored by the US State Department. Al-Turki's wife, Sarah Khonaizan, who plead guilty to reduced state and federal charges, is to be deported from the US. [ [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5154046,00.html "Suthers reassures Saudis:Feds back Suthers' trip to explain case of captive nanny",Rocky Mountain News , November 18, 2006] ] Following the state conviction, federal charges against Al-Turki were dropped. [ [http://insidedenver.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4977234,00.html "Sex-slave case apparently over: Prosecutors ask to drop federal charges against Saudi man"Rocky Mountain News , September 8, 2006] ]Another case involved Princess
Buniah al-Saud , niece ofFahd of Saudi Arabia , who was arrested inOrlando, Florida and accused of pushing her Indonesian maid down a flight of stairs. The criminal case was resolved by aplea bargain to misdemeanor assault and payment of a small fine after the maid was refused a visa after traveling to Indonesia to her mother's funeral. The USDepartment of State has refused to explain their refusal to allow amaterial witness in a criminal case entry to the United States to testify. A civil suit for wages was settled.A third allegation involved Hana Al Jader of
Boston, Massachusetts who was accused of stealing the passports of 2 Indonesian women and forcing them to work as domestic servants.References
* Adapted from the
United States Department of State publication, [http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2005/ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2005"]
** [http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2006/65990.htm Trafficking in Persons Report 2006]
* Adapted from the Wikinfo article [http://wikinfo.org/wiki.php?title=Human_trafficking_in_Saudi_Arabia "Human trafficking in Saudi Arabia"]
* [http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_2793903 Denver Post article, June 10, 2005, "Woman held as slave, feds say: Aurora couple facing charges"]
* [http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_2800781 Denver Post article, June 14, 2005, "Police: Home a prison of work, sex: A criminal complaint describes an Aurora couple accused of abusing an immigrant woman, who also says she was raped"]
* [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4960559,00.html "Man was convicted of sexual assaults on housekeeper" "Rocky Mountain News" September 1, 2006]
* [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=80144&d=1&m=9&y=2006 "Saudi Gets 27 Years to Life for Enslaving Maid" "Arab News"]
* [http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C77.txt U.S. Code, Title 18, Chapter 77 Peonage and Slavery]
* [http://www.laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=40&news_id=3164 Report on Laksamana.Net (the Orlando matter)]
* [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2006/09/saudi_princess_1.html Boston.com - Saudi princess pleads guilty to immigration violations] - by Shelley Murphy 05/09/06
* [http://www.wfafi.org/SINA-Trafficking-Market.htm WAFI Sina - The price of Iranian girls after entering the Persian Gulf trafficking market] - May 2004
* [http://www.rooz0nline.com/11english/011640.shtml Rooz Online (English) - Iranian Girls Now Trade Items] - by Shahram Rafizadeh 13/11/05External links
* [http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/526 "Slave-holding and Terror Links in Colorado"]
* [http://www.paralumun.com/issuessaudiarabia.htm Human Trafficking and Prostitution in Saudi Arabia]
* [http://www.homaidanalturki.com/EN/ Homaidan Al-Turki support site, English]
* [http://www.homaidanalturki.com/ Homaidan Al-Turki support site, Arabic]Organisations operating in Saudi Arabia
* [http://www.ansarburney.org/ Ansar Burney Trust] - working against human trafficking and for human rights in Saudi Arabia
Footnotes
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