GDN:Growing trafficking ’cause for concern’

By MAY ASHOUR
Published: 26 August 2006

REPORTS that parts of Adliya have been turned into a red light district by Thai sex workers are only a small part of a much larger human trafficking problem facing Bahrain, a Thai Embassy spokesman told the GDN.

He said the issue was not simply limited to Adliya, but entailed systematic abuse of relaxed visa regulations that allow poor women from rural Thailand to be lured to Bahrain with the promise of legitimate jobs – then have their passports and belongings taken away before being forced into prostitution.

Visa restrictions between Thailand and Bahrain were eased in 2003 and Thai nationals are able to visit Bahrain without a visa for up to two weeks, while Bahrainis can visit Thailand for up to 30 days as part of efforts to boost relations.

By MAY ASHOUR
Published: 26 August 2006

However, the embassy spokesman said this has led to some individuals abusing the system and luring Thai women to Bahrain to work in homes, salons or massage parlours – but then forcing them into the sex trade.

Their pimps reportedly fly them to Doha, in Qatar, and back every two weeks so they maintain the legality of their stay.

He revealed that several other businesses are spawned from trafficking, such as a “very co-ordinated” ring that sends the women to Doha and back.

“These are typically women from very poor, uneducated backgrounds who come here for the promise of work and are never flat out told they will become prostitutes,” said the spokesman.

“They are taken to hotels or apartments, then their passports and tickets are taken away. Some are kept in actual captivity, others forced four or five to a room,” he said.

“We cannot stress enough that these women are being used and whenever they have a chance of escape they come to us.”

The revelations follow a string of complaints from Bahraini and expatriate GDN readers that Adliya is becoming a regular haunt for prostitutes.

However, the Thai Embassy spokesman stressed that officials were aware of the problem.

“We are aware that there is a simmering negative feeling regarding this issue, but it is a very sensitive one with the potential to affect the relationship between our two countries,” he said.

“There have been instances where even proper, official, Thai delegates were treated not-so-nicely,” he added.

The embassy reports that it receives two to three women who run away from their life of prostitution every day.

Sometimes the number increases to six or seven.

“The problem is that the embassy is powerless to do anything in the way of pressing charges or making arrests,” said the spokesman.

“All we can do is receive these women when they come to us and give them advice.”

The embassy negotiates with hotels or sponsors who provide accommodation for the women, but the spokesman described the process as “very difficult.”

“We never have any concrete information – all we get is nicknames or mobile numbers that no one answers,” he said.

“The women usually don’t know their ‘sponsors’. All they are provided with are nicknames or generic names like Ali Hassan and a mobile number to contact if they need anything.”

The embassy says it finds it difficult to track down the women’s pimps and eventually has to reach settlements with hotels involved – paying up to several hundred dinars in room charges in exchange for the women’s passports, belongings and tickets home.

This complicates the women’s situations even further because they go home with even more debt than they arrived with, said the spokesman.

“So far we have helped 154 women go back home this year and have sheltered 135 of them at the embassy,” he revealed.

“We receive calls from them all the time, often in the wee hours of the morning.”

However, the spokesman said the embassy shelter is too small and often gets overcrowded.

“Ideally it should hold four women, but we can have up to 10 women in it – especially during the summer when it is hard to find airfare,” he said.

“Money is a big attraction for these women and it is very hard to dissuade them from leaving home to work abroad.

“They are victims of their economic situation.”

The spokesman said the women are often frustrated when the embassy cannot immediately help them and most only come forward when they absolutely need to, like in the case of pregnancy.

“We’ve had about 20 pregnancies this year,” he said.

“In those cases the women are abandoned by their ‘sponsors’ when they begin to show.”

The women cannot even go to hospitals for check-ups for fear of being caught, he added.

He confirmed that 27 Thai women are currently in Bahraini prisons on prostitution charges.

“But a lot of the time the police can’t do anything because the women are dressed in abayas and are not really doing anything,” he said..

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