Dubai: Social networking sites are being used to illegally “sell” domestic workers in Kuwait.
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There is a growing black market taking place through apps hosted by Google and Apple.
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Women are also being sold on Instagram as maids under popular hashtags such as #TransportMaids” and #MaidsforSale.
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This is completely illegal in Kuwait and banned by the authorities.
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The BBC exposed this racket.
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The report starts with reporters going through an app called ‘4sale’ and reacting to a post that says in Arabic: “African worker up to be sponsored, 40 years old, good in cleaning and baby-sitting. Available for 700 Dinars” (Dh8,400).
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“Up to be sponsored” for residency in Gulf countries that follow the sponsorship system means “changing someone’s sponsorship from one person to another.”
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‘Wake her up at 5am, works all day with no fuss’
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The reporter is heard speaking to a Kuwaiti man, who explains that the women, subject of the ad, is a very good cook.
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“You can wake her up at 5 am and she won’t even have a problem, works all day long with no fuss,” the man said.
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The reporter asks to see the women to inspect her.
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The reporters, pretending to be a married couple, arrive undercover to check how these things happen.
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They are welcomed by a man who asks for a downpayment for the lady.
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To make her more appealing, he says that she doesn’t require any days off, or a phone and no going out.
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“The most horrible part is seeing the label ‘for sale’ on these women’s pictures when you log in to the apps or navigate social media,” the BBC reporter said.
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‘Children as housemaids, with altered birthdays’
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In another part of the report, a child is being “sold” as a maid. Agents in the home country of these children provide them with passports with altered birthdates before sending them abroad.
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The Kuwaiti authorities, according to BBC, summoned the owners of those accounts and ordered them to remove their ads from the Internet.
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They were forced to sign a legal obligation not to engage in similar activities in the future.
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The increasing black market came as a reaction to the growing rules and regulations on hiring domestic helpers in Kuwait, which gives female domestic workers the following rights:
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Fighting slavery
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A human rights activist is seen in the report explaining how the blackmarket for housemaids is “slavery” saying: “Because I paid an amount of money for someone’s services, then I own him. This is the idea that we need to fight.”
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“Most of these people don’t understand the concept of human trafficking — they don’t own us,” said Ann Abundan, founder of Sandigan, an organization that fights for the welfare and rights of domestic workers in Kuwait.
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