Source: Emirates247

Two men in the UAE were sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to "sell" an Indonesian domestic worker via WhatsApp.

On Thursday, Dubai's Court of First Instance found the men - who are Bangladeshi nationals - guilty on charges of human trafficking. 

Two other men, accomplices in the crime, were also jailed for "aiding and abetting them in selling the victim and driving her to the buyer," according to Khaleej Times.

The court's verdict also accused the men of running a prostitution ring as they used to invite men to have sex with the victim. 

They will be deported after serving jail time. They were also ordered to pay a fine of 100,000 dirhams ($27,223.) 

According to Khaleej Times, the court demanded the flat be shut down.

human trafficking
Source: Mathrubhumi

The 41-year-old victim had worked for an Emirati family in Abu Dhabi upon arrival to the UAE in January 2017. 

"I got in contact with a woman and told her that I was not happy at work because the sponsor's wife was very demanding. That woman introduced me to another woman (a wanted runaway) who promised me a part-time job on a 1,500 dirham ($408) salary."

She ran away from her sponsor's home in January 2018. 

"At 3pm, I took a bus to Dubai. I was picked up later by a man who took me to a house. The runaway woman told me I would work as a prostitute, that I had to accept as I had no other choice," she said, according to Khaleej Times.

"On February 5, I was told to pack my bag as I would be taken to another house. A few minutes after I rode in the first defendant's car, the police raided the place. I had no idea I was being sold," she added.

Following the men's arrest - which took place in February - the woman was taken to the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, a non-governmental organization offering protection and support services to women and children.

Not the first human trafficking case in the UAE

Dubai Court
Source: StepFeed

In 2017, a human trafficking and prostitution ring - involving a 27-year-old Bangladeshi security guard and other unknown persons - was busted after one woman sent her brother a message via WhatsApp. 

The woman, who was identified as a Kyrgyz national, is one of two who were lured to Dubai after the security guard offered them jobs as domestic helpers, and forced into prostitution shortly after being picked up from the airport.

They were only able to escape after the police busted the ring with the help of the message one of the women was able to send to her brother in her home country, Khaleej Times reported.

"Selling" domestic workers isn't new in the Arab world

OLX

Unfortunately, the selling of maids isn't new in the region. 

In March 2017, someone in Lebanon listed a housekeeper "for sale" on the online marketplace, OLX. 

The OLX post said: "Ethiopian maid up for relinquishment, 20 years old, has experience, can speak Arabic well, a year and half of the contract remains."

In a statement emailed to StepFeed at the time, OLX representatives explained that the company "offers the migrant workers the platform of finding jobs to continue to earn a living within the country, rather than just being repatriated or sent to the local employment agencies till they find other positions." 

The statement also added that OLX "has a full-time team working to ensure all content on the site complies with local laws." 

Local laws in several Arab countries do not criminalize such ads, probably because most of them apply the kafala system, which has been labeled by Human Rights Watch as a "'sponsored" gateway to human trafficking.

What is the kafala system?

The kafala system, which exists in different forms in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon, essentially legally binds domestic workers to their employers and has been called "modern-day slavery" by rights groups. 

Under it, domestic workers across the region are left exposed to human rights violations. 

While some countries have taken steps to reform these laws, there's still a very long way to go before these individuals are treated fairly and equally. 

Migrant Rights estimates that over 600,000 people are working in "forced labor" situations throughout the Middle East. 

Many other workers are paid very low wages for working long hours, sometimes without any days off. 

Although accurate statistics are hard to come by, rights groups estimate that suicide rates and work-related deaths are incredibly high among foreign workers in the region.

Numbers revealed that "700 migrant worker suicides were recorded in the UAE between 2007 and 2013."