Bahrain: Citizen, Asians arrested for housemaid trafficking
Expat collaborators, 29 domestic helpers rounded up in crackdown
Cairo: Bahraini police had arrested a woman citizen and Asian men on suspicion of recruiting and trading in foreign domestic helpers.
The Human Trafficking-Combat Directorate arrested the citizen who owns two cleaning service offices and found her involved in smuggling African housemaids with assistance from some Asians.
The alleged business came to authorities’ attention after receiving reports about escape of two housemaids from their employers.
“Investigations showed that the citizen traded in housemaids by employing them to serve in several houses on the basis of hour work system in return for paying monthly sums of money for her,” the Bahraini Interior Ministry said.
Asian collaborators as well as 29 housemaids have been arrested, the ministry added. “What the citizen did violated laws in effect,” the ministry said.
The Human Trafficking-Combat Directorate has set up the round-the-clock hotline 555 to receive related cases or complaints.
Last year, Bahrain launched a special branch of prosecution to handle human trafficking cases.