Recently there has been an unravelling of the human trafficking web with its multifaceted problems that are alien to the UAE but are rather common to other developed countries.

This is a problem of global magnitude and should not be seen separately from its socio-economic factors that originate in poverty, population displacement and organised crime.

Human trafficking is also called "modern day slavery", but alas these "slaves" do not arrive in chains from their countries. The abhorrent trade involves myriad activities and practices and the most contentious cases pertain to trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation, forced labour and removal of organs.

The problem is more exacerbated nowadays due to porous borders and population displacements in war-torn countries such as the current tragedy taking place along the Iraqi-Syrian border, where Iraqi women and children are forced into involuntary servitude to escape their intolerable circumstances.

This tragedy has linked a number of countries to such crimes, not least those that have accused the UAE of exploiting labourers and children. Not that such crimes should be condoned but we should place the issue in its proper context. Worldwide estimates reveal that up to 600,000 to 850,000 men, women and children are routinely abducted or lured into indebted bondage from "source of origin countries" such as the former Eastern European Bloc, Asian and Middle Eastern regions. Their major destinations are Western Europe - Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, U.K. and Greece - the US, Canada and Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey, Israel, Bahrain and the UAE.

Abject slavery

Such a global network should not leave us bewildered or in a state of resignation; it should trigger a fight against abject slavery at every level either by reporting to authorities suspicious behaviour or empowering women and children's shelter groups to approach the helpless victims.

It is also of no surprise that the long held attraction of traffickers to the UAE, as a transit and destination points, due to the country's business and tourist attraction. Neither should we exonerate the traffickers who come in all shades and stripes and sometimes, ironically enough, from the lowest economic rungs which the victims hail from.

This has been amply demonstrated with the recent exposure of the identity of traffickers, in some cases, who were drivers, telephone operators and unemployed illegals attempting to sell housemaids for paltry sums.

The dehumanising trade of human trafficking, usually target not only the poor but vulnerable sections of the society who lack the most basic tools to defend themselves and thereby placing them squarely in the hands of traffickers who practice every form of extortion with impunity.

The need of the hour is not a blame game played out by certain media entities and individuals who claim the moral high ground but of adopting a sensitive awareness to stop unscrupulous traders in their tracks.

Groups and individuals need to synergise to help reluctant victims shed inhibitions and expose their tormentors. This can be achieved not only through empowerment of non governmental organisations but also by enlisting the help of taxi drivers to expose the city's vice dens.

It is also important to be aware of the extent we end up practising such acts, unknowingly, by imposing unreasonable hours and endless work loads on our household helpers.

Sawsan Fikree is a Dubai based writer.