Abu Dhabi: Does a job offer sound too good to be true? Have you been asked to pay a fee to secure it?
You could soon find yourself at the mercy of traffickers, warns a women’s shelter official.
“Promises of illegal jobs are a common trick used by traffickers to trap people in an ugly crime of abuse and sexual exploitation through fake advertisements,” Sarah Suhail, executive director of the Ewa’a shelter for women and children, said.
Checking the status of the recruitment agency where you submit your application and never transacting business outside the registered address of the agency are ways to avoid illegal recruitment, Gulf News has learnt.
“There was a slight decrease in the number of human trafficking victims in 2013, with 24, compared with 2012, when there were around 23 victims,” Sarah told Gulf News.
“We currently have around 11 human trafficking cases, with the majority being from Asian countries,” she added.
The UAE is one of the leading countries in the Arab world to take strict action and execute international agreements against human trafficking.
The Ewa’a shelter, which has been helping abused women and children for almost six years, is in the final stages of establishing a men’s shelter.
The first shelter for male victims of human trafficking, which will be independent from the women and children’s shelter, will open in the capital to accommodate up to 20 men.
Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, follows up on victims regularly. She visits the shelter to evaluate their progress and conducts various activities to ease their suffering and give them a chance to express their feelings.
