Human trafficking in the Middle East
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The trafficking of persons is the fastest growing and most profitable
criminal activity In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
after
drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
and
arms trafficking Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small a ...
. According to the United Nations
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children #REDIRECT Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children #REDIRECT Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children {{R from move ...
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, human trafficking is defined as follows: “Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the
abuse of power Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of
exploitation Exploitation may refer to: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploitation of labour ** Forced labour *Exploitation colonialism *Slavery ** Sexual slavery and other forms *Oppression *Psychological manipulation In arts and entertainment *Exploi ...
. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of
sexual exploitation Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a s ...
,
forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
or services,
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”Pdf.
/ref>


Prevalence

According to Kapstein in the Journal of Foreign Affairs, the industrial states have failed to put in much effort to alleviate the issue. He believes that the problem is not one of political capability, but political will. A challenge in combating human trafficking in Middle Eastern countries is that the governments deny there is a problem. The lack of political will is partially the result of empty threats from the international community, but most of it can be attributed to deeper economic forces and sociological factors at play. In her article in "Global Tides," Stephanie Doe states that sex trafficking is a sensitive topic in the Middle East for various reasons. On one level, it suggests moral corruption, which implies the waning influence of Islamic
values In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of dif ...
in society. On a more significant level, in most Middle Eastern countries, because the governments are responsible for preserving tradition and upholding Islamic authority, it challenges their ability to retain a nation unified by
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. Consequently, if the government was to acknowledge sex trafficking as a problem, it could be interpreted as alluding to the state’s diminishing power. It is difficult to quantify how large the problem of human trafficking is because trafficked persons are usually kept out of sight and in inaccessible locations. Human trafficking is an underground activity and the victims are referred to as a “hidden population.” The profits from this industry often go through a process of money laundering, making it difficult to trace the activities of traffickers. Girls and women who are sexually exploited by rape, forced prostitution, or sexual slavery are tainted with social stigmas for the rest of their lives. The link to sexual immorality further exacerbates this stigma. Once that link is created, the damage to the woman's reputation can never be undone. In 2003, a study published in the '' Journal of Trauma Practice'' found that 89 percent of women in prostitution wanted to escape. Additionally, 60-75 percent of women in prostitution had been raped and 70-95 percent had been physically assaulted.


Types of trafficking in the Middle East

For the majority of the 1990s, human trafficking was incorrectly defined as illegal migration,
smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...
, or
sex work Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volunt ...
. The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines trafficking comprehensively: its focus is on
coercion Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...
for the purpose of exploitation, and it precludes the possibility of legal consent by the victims of traffickers. In the Middle East, some of the most prevalent forms of human trafficking are forced labor of migrant workers, sexual enslavement and forced prostitution and camel jockeying of young boys.


Forced labor

Today slavery typically involves women and children being sold into involuntary servitude by the means of violence and deprivation. There is a clear lack of labor protection laws for domestic workers in the GCC (
Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf ( ar, مجلس التعاون لدول العربية الخليج ), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ar, مجلس التعاون الخليجي), is a regional, interg ...
) countries. The international community recognizes the trafficking of women and children as a modern form of slavery. Many migrant people, mainly from Asian states, are tricked into coming to the Middle East, where they find themselves in a forced labor situation or working for very low wages. Traffickers trap their victims by coercion, force, or fraud. The forced labor of migrant workers is especially prevalent in the oil-rich
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
states of
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
,
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
,
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
, and the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
. The workers are frequently held to pay off the debt they have accumulated from the costs of travel and housing. In July 2022, a research body from
Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, The Wilson Center published a report stating that Qatar passed legislation to improve conditions for migrant workers, becoming the first Gulf country to allow workers to switch jobs before their contract has expired and the second to set a minimum wage for migrant workers. According to an International Labor Organization's representative, there was progress in worker mobility, in addition to other concerns like occupational safety, access to justice, and representation on labor committees. “Both the resources and watchful eye of the ILO have proven critical to support legislative progress” said the representative. Trafficking from South Asia to the Middle East is a serious problem, with about 200,000 persons trafficked over 20 years, and 3,400 children over the last 10 years. The International Labor Organization estimates the minimum number of persons in forced labor in the Middle East and North Africa is around 230,000. A paper prepared for the Policy Analysis and Research Programme of the Global Commission on International Migration, gcim.org.


Sexual enslavement

Most commonly, but not exclusively, human trafficking is exploitation in the form of
forced prostitution Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution or compulsory prostitution, is prostitution or sexual slavery that takes place as a result of coercion by a third party. The terms "forced prostitution" or "enforced prostitution" ap ...
or sexual enslavement.Pdf.
/ref> State authorities have typically confused sex trafficking with prostitution. Some young impoverished women are attracted to the sex industry because it appears to offer quick and easy money. Traffickers often lure desperate young women with the promise of a better paying job or higher education into a destination country where their documentation and passports are forcibly taken from them as soon as they arrive. These women often find themselves in slave-like situations. Once trafficked into the sex industry, traffickers control the women through physical and psychological means. Prostitution in the Middle East is strictly illegal, along with all sexual activity outside lawful marriage. The religious outlawing of extramarital sex reinforces this trade and consequently further bolsters the demand for prostitution. The issue is exacerbated by the lack of legislative actions taken by states to control prostitution and trafficking.


Camel jockeying

Even though the most common forms of human trafficking are sexual enslavement and forced labor, these are not the only cases. The type of trafficking that is quite unique to the Middle East is the forced camel jockeying of young boys.
Camel racing Camel racing is a popular sport in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Mongolia and Australia. Professional camel racing, like horse racing, is an event for betting and tourist attraction. Camels can run at speeds up to ...
is a particularly dangerous and violent practice that young boys are forced into against their will. Boys from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are recruited around five years of age to be camel jockeys in Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates. Their parents normally sell them to agents who go around poor districts in these countries and offer to take male children away to the UAE to work. These agents tell parents that the children will earn large sums of money that will be sent home to the families. The parents are typically deceived about the conditions of work. They are led to believe that the children are going to obtain good jobs and will have a better future than if they remain at home. Usually the boys do not know who is taking them abroad or for what purpose. Most of the boys are not aware they will become camel jockeys against their will. When they arrive in the UAE, the children are transferred to ''azbas'', which are camel training complexes in the desert. The children are subject to several forms of abuse during their stay, including punishments such as a lack of food and electric shocks. Lack of food is a common practice because their owners try to maintain their weight at less than 20 kg (44 lbs) for racing purposes. Deaths and injuries of children during racing is another major concern. If children accidentally die during a race they are buried straight away to avoid police investigations of the death. The conditions in the azbas are very restricting. Children are not allowed to leave the camel training complex. They sleep on cardboard boxes, making them very prone to scorpion bites. The children rise at 4:00am to begin exercising the camels. Every day they take the camels for rides until 11:00am. Then they are allowed to rest for two hours before feeding and cleaning the camels. Then they exercise the camels again until nightfall. The children are supposed to be paid for their work but that is almost never the case. The agent usually takes the salary and keeps it without allocating any to the child or his family. Running away is a virtual impossibility for children deployed as camel jockeys since the azbas are usually in remote desert locations. Usually children leave when they become too old or heavy and are no longer considered suitable for camel racing. Other children are sent home because they become seriously injured from racing. Police or immigration rescues are virtually unknown in the azbas.


Driving forces behind trafficking


Foreign migration

One of the major forces driving human trafficking in the Middle East is the large influx of foreign migration. Research conducted in 1996 on the routes of illegal migration, smuggling and trafficking concluded that over the period 1992-97, the majority of illegal migrants to Europe had originated from Iraq, China, Pakistan, India or Africa. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) notes trafficking of women from Ghana to Lebanon, Libya and EU countries, women for domestic service from Central and West Africa to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and even voluntary migrations of women from Ethiopia to the Middle East, where working conditions are considered to be virtual slavery. The Middle East is a destination region for men and women trafficked for the purpose of commercial and sexual exploitation. Wealthy Arab men from the Persian Gulf area have been known to rent flats that are ‘furnished with housemaids’ for anywhere from a few hours to a few months. Most of the prostitutes and human trafficking victims tend to be from Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Very few countries in the Middle East are devoid of the commercial sex industry.


Poverty

Of the many locations where human trafficking is prevalent in the Middle East, most are characterized by
poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
. Human trafficking is a market fueled by principles of
supply and demand In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris paribus, holding all else equal, in a perfect competition, competitive market, the unit price for a ...
. Therefore, where there is poverty, there is a likely supply to meet the growing demand for sexual entertainment. Economic vulnerability increases the likelihood of women becoming sexual commodities for wealthy Arabs in the Persian Gulf area. Although there are overwhelming social implications, there also seem to be regional financial patterns that perpetuate this trend. Fewer work opportunities for women have led to prostitution as an alternative. For example, in Egypt, women from lower-class backgrounds see that a few nights in prostitution generates more money than one month’s work in the
public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...
. This makes Egypt a popular location for international
sex tourism Sex tourism refers to the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships in exchange for money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly oper ...
. Despite sex tourism being illegal, Egyptians find it hard to turn away Gulf hard currency due to their crumbling economy. The proliferation of prostitution, sex tourism, and misyar marriages can be understood as the consequence of uneven economic development, further exacerbated by principles of supply and demand. Persian Gulf nationals have the will and the means to pursue sexual entertainment, and poorer Muslim communities can supply services in return for financial security.


Misyar marriages

To avoid the repercussions of
sex outside marriage Extramarital sex occurs when a married person engages in sexual activity with someone other than their spouse. The term may be applied to the situation of a single person having sex with a married person. Where extramarital sexual relations do n ...
, Middle Eastern men and women in certain countries engage in a common practice by the name of "misyar marriage", also called
Nikah Misyar A ''misyar marriage'' ( ar, زواج المسيار, nikah al-misyar or more often ''zawaj al-misyar'' "traveller's marriage") is a type of marriage contract allowed by some Sunni Muslims. The husband and wife thus joined are able to renounce s ...
. This type of marriage was born for the sole purpose of physical pleasure. It can be defined as a “temporary marriage,” or its literal translation, “traveling marriage.”Pdf.
/ref> Misyar marriages do not require cohabitation of the husband and wife, long-term commitment, welfare provisions to the wife, or the intention of procreating, which are all the elements of a traditional Islamic marriage. While misyar marriages do have a technical contract, the duration of the marriage is not explicitly stated in the contract but instead implied. Misyar marriages have been commonly referred to as “legal prostitution,” A marriage of this kind is not an option for a woman who wants to be viewed as respectable because it compromises many of her rights and basic values. Despite its controversial nature, misyar marriages are both religiously and legally accepted as valid marriages. According to Syed Ahmad, misyar marriages are popular in Islamic countries because it legitimizes sexual relations outside conventional marriages. Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a leading authority and one of the few remaining figures of Islamic scholarship, states that the misyar marriage is religiously legitimate. Al-Qaradawi adds that “there is no doubt that such marriage may be somehow socially unacceptable, but there is a big difference between what is Islamically valid and what is socially acceptable.” He is indicating that as long as both parties accept the terms of the marriage contract, they are legally married in the eyes of Allah. Misyar marriages purportedly prevent unmarried youth and widows from fulfilling their sexual desires outside marriage, which would traditionally be considered sinful. Misyar legitimizes these acts that would otherwise be seen as unlawful. The Middle East is well known for its strict observation of moral codes and sensitivity to the taboo subject of sex. In most societies of the Middle East where Islam is the dominant religion, premarital and extramarital sex is considered fornication. In a few countries, fornicators receive one hundred lashes of a whip with a crowd of witnesses for sins such as premarital sex. ''Zina'' is the word in many Middle Eastern countries for the concept of sexual misconduct by men and women. Despite all of these repercussions for extramarital sex, media coverage and human rights groups are revealing that prostitution is present and thriving in the Middle East. Misyar marriages also tend to exploit the economic vulnerability of women in poverty.


See also

*
Human rights in the Middle East Human rights in the Middle East have been shaped by the legal and political development of international human rights law after the Second World War, and their application to the Middle East. The 2004 United Nations Arab Human Development Report ...
*
LGBT in the Middle East Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people generally have limited or highly restrictive rights in most parts of the Middle East, and are open to hostility in others. Sex between men is illegal in 9 of the 18 countries that make up t ...
*
Sexual taboo in the Middle East The Middle East is a large region that consists of different countries. Majority of the people in these countries participate in a Patriarchy systems of religions such as Islam, Christianity, or Judaism, which all prohibit premarital sex. Premarit ...
*
Women in Arab societies The roles of women in the Arab world have changed throughout history, as the culture and society in which they live has undergone significant transformations. Historically, as well as presently, the situation of women differs greatly between A ...
*
History of slavery in the Muslim world The history of slavery in the Muslim world began with institutions inherited from pre-Islamic Arabia;Lewis 1994Ch.1 and the practice of keeping slaves subsequently developed in radically different ways, depending on social-political factors suc ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Human trafficking in the Middle East Crimes against humanity Debt bondage Organized crime activity Human rights in the Middle East