Mary (not her real name),a young Zimbabwean woman says she
worked a regular job in China for about 3 years before meeting her human
traffickers disguised as recruitment agents. After responding to an advert, the
agents approached her with promises of a well-paying job in Kuwait. One of the
job offers on the list was that of “Maid”, which Mary was interested in. She
was then taken to the airport, along with other job-seeking women from
developing countries. These are third world countries where opportunities are
few. A monthly salary of US$250 working an odd job at a hotel or restaurant is
quite attractive for these young African girls and women.
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| Attractive African girl looking down her chest |
At the airport, Mary met girls from poor African countries
such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, South
Africa and Nigeria. There were also a lot of women and girls from poor Asia
Pacific regions such as The Philippines and India.
Before going to the airport, the women had a briefing with
the agents. They were told not to reveal their purpose of travel when quizzed
by the airport immigration officials. They were not going to reveal that they
are going for jobs in Kuwait or any region. If quizzed by the authorities, they
would say that they are on a holiday trip or tourists in transit. Mary and her
companions were detained for 14 hours at the airport for questioning, and in
that time, they only had one meal and quite dehydrated.
The recruiting agents disappeared as soon as they arrived at
the airport, telling the women not to disclose their names and recruiting agency.
The instructions were to be followed or else the women would be arrested and
deported to their countries. Women who followed the agent’s instructions
managed to pass through for the next flight to Kuwait, and those who succumbed
to the interrogation or failed the interview were detained.
Mary finally arrived in Kuwait, she had survived the interrogation.
As she landed at the airport, someone was waiting to receive her. Her passport
was handed to the household owner who was going to be her boss. She started
working the same night that she arrived. They gave her clothes to wear, an Arab
gown and bhurka, as is the tradition in Arab countries. The house which was to
be Mary’s workplace had 18 rooms, and she was supposed to clean this big house
with the help of another slave, an Ethiopian woman who was lured to this place
by a recruitment agency. Although Mary was treated kindly by the household owners,
the work was just too much for her and the other woman. There were no breaks to
rest or some time off from work. She was working 20 hours a day with only 4
hours of rest between 1 am and 5 am. She woke up at 5 am daily to sweep the
floors, wash the clothes of multiple family members and guests in the house.
When she was not cleaning the house or washing clothes, she was cooking food
for everyone in the house and washing dishes.
Like most unsuspecting and enslaved African girls who are
trapped in the Gulf region, it didn’t take long for Mary to realize that this
was not the job she envisaged. It was nothing but slavery. She had imagined
herself working for a formal employer in a hotel or guest house, but here she
was working for a slave owner with no benefits or pay. The recruitment agents
had lied to her.
After a few days, Mary decided to quit. She told her boss,
who was not exactly pleased with her decision. The boss told her to pay back a
sum of US$2500.00 if she wanted to quit the job.
Apparently and unbeknown to Mary,
her boss was one of the clients who had paid the recruitment agents a fee of
US$2500 to find them a slave. Without paying back the money, which was supposed
to be refunded by the recruitment agent, Mary was not going to get her passport
back nor be allowed to leave.
Mary was frustrated.Fortunately, she had a cellphone which
she was allowed to keep, and the house had wifi. Through whatsapp, Mary sent a
message to her parents in Zimbabwe. She told them of her ordeal and situation
in Kuwait. Her parents made contact with embassies in Kuwait and Zimbabwe. The
Zim Embassy in Kuwait proved to be unhelpful. They told her that they had no
resources to send her back to Zimbabwe, and advised her to pay the US$2500
demanded by the owner. When it was clear that no help was coming from the
Zimbabwean government, Mary’s parents decided to buy a return air ticket. They
sent the flight ticket to the embassy, and with the intervention of the Kuwait
presidential palace, the situation was urgently resolved.
Mary returned safely to Zimbabwe, where she narrated her ordeal
to local radio stations. [This is a true story from ZiFM Spotlight program which
aired on Thursday, 24 March 2016]
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