Tricked and Trapped: Human Trafficking in the Middle East, ‎pdf 4.1 MB

All the cases brought to court to date involve the trafficking of persons for
sexual or child exploitation. Cases of labour exploitation against domestic
workers have also been filed in court but are not typically considered a penal
crime, unless there is physical violence involved. The first successful court
case lodged by a domestic worker was won in 2007, prior to the adoption of
Lebanon’s counter-trafficking law. It involved a Sri Lankan domestic worker
who had been repeatedly beaten by her female employer. 57 She had sought
help at Caritas, and subsequently was sent to hospital for treatment. 58 “This
case was important,” explained a judge, “because it expressed the willingness
of the magistrate to protect the victims.” 59
In the UAE, 37 cases related to human trafficking were registered under
Federal Law No. 51 in 2011, involving 51 victims and 111 traffickers, and
leading to 19 convictions. 60 The National Committee to Combat Human
Trafficking noted in its annual report:
A change is being observed in the nature of human trafficking crimes that are being
recorded in the country. While all cases in the past pertained to sexual exploitation,
there are now cases that fall outside the scope of this form of abuse. A few cases
of labour exploitation, forced labour, and in even fewer instances sale of children
[linked to adoption, which is illegal in the UAE] were also recorded. 61
Stakeholders interviewed confirmed that the majority of cases brought in
the UAE are related to sex trafficking. Three officials of the Dubai Public
Prosecution said that they had dealt with only one case of labour exploitation
in 2010. 62 Officials from the Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution and Federal Public
Prosecution also confirmed that they had not dealt with any cases of labour
trafficking. 63 According to a senior official of the Ministry of Labour, the paucity
of labour trafficking cases prosecuted is attributable to the existence of safety
nets relating to labour exploitation, and that typically cases of this kind are not
referred to the NCCHT but are directly handled by labour dispute mechanisms. 64
57
Case Law No. 28063, provided by the judge on 9 Mar. 2012. The case was presented
to the Court of First Instance in Byblos, Mount Lebanon on 12 Sep. 2007.
58
The judge delivered the sentence on 24 June 2010. It consisted of: (1) one month’s
imprisonment for the employer; (2) a 10 million Lebanese pounds (LBP: US$6,700)
fine, to be paid to the victim as compensation for the physical and moral abuse
encountered; (3) a prohibition on the defendant’s employing another domestic worker
for five years. The defendant appealed the decision on 5 July 2010 at the Court of
Appeal in Mount Lebanon, but the sentence was confirmed on 31 Jan. 2011.
59
Interview with an official from the Ministry of Justice, Lebanon, 26 Sep. 2011.
60
UAE, National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking: Combating human
trafficking in the UAE: Annual Report 2010–2011 (Abu Dhabi, 2011), pp. 12–13.
61
Ibid., p. 13.
62
Interview with an official of the Dubai Public Prosecution, UAE, 30 Jan. 2012.
The Attorney General of the Dubai Public Prosecution took the decision to establish a
special investigation team to deal exclusively with cases of human trafficking.
63
Interview with an official of the Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution, 1 Feb. 2012
64
Interview with an official of the Ministry of Labour, United Arab Emirates, 29 Jan. 2012.
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