UAE | Crime
Al Mazeina hails court decision
People who issue employment visas for women to work as housemaids on behalf of other parties will be accused of human trafficking, not visa trading, a senior police official said.
- By Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:06 January 24, 2008
- Brigadier Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina.
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
Dubai: People who issue employment visas for women to work as housemaids on behalf of other parties will be accused of human trafficking, not visa trading, a senior police official said.
Brigadier Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department, said any person, whether an Emirati or a resident, who is proved to be involved in assisting or issuing visas for women as housemaids and then handing the women over to other people who asked them to issue the visas, will be accused of involvement in human trafficking cases, not trading in visas.
The accused will be considered as a main accomplice regardless of his or her intentions.
Brigadier Al Mazeina praised a Dubai Courts order to sentence two suspects from Bangladesh to 10 years in jail and deportation for human trafficking.
He said under the laws of combating human trafficking in the country, police bodies are continuing their procedures in catching and investigating human trafficking cases for illegal profit.
Brigadier Al Mazeina said the sentence is considered one of the big punishments in this type of case so far. He pointed out that Dubai Police's procedures, regarding setting up a trap and getting evidence in the crime, prompted the court's jury to issue such a tough sentence.
According to records, police had received a tip-off about people managing prostitution by forcing two women to do so and then selling them to others to further exploit them. They sold each woman for Dh9,000.
Dubai Police set up a trap and the required money was provided and a source posed as a buyer. The suspects were arrested with the money during the operation.
The suspects confessed that they forced the women into prostitution after bringing them on visas to work as housemaids. They also attacked and tortured the victims to force them into prostitution.
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