MANAMA, 25 January 2005 — Bahraini authorities were yesterday warned of a “possible increase in human trafficking” from countries hit by the tsunami disaster.
“We are concerned about a potential arrival of underage women who may have lost their relatives and homes in the disaster,” said founding member of the migrant workers group, Salma Bala. “Our main concern is of countries such as Indonesia, from where human traffickers have already reported shipping girls to the Gulf,” she said.
Human rights activists along with immigration officials have described Indonesia as a “significant source of illegal immigrants to Bahrain.” There are girls as young as 14 who are known to have been shipped here on fake passports to work as maids.
“A large percentage of women coming to the Gulf are below 18 years old,” Bala said. “We have warned the Indonesian government several times through the embassy in Kuwait to ensure that women leaving the country are the same as the person in their passports.”
Indonesia was the worst affected country by the tsunami disaster triggered by an earthquake off the Sumatra island on Dec. 26.
Activists are now worried that survivors will be picked up by dishonest middlemen, handed over to recruitment agencies in Jakarta and sent to the Gulf. “Lots of people there have lost their parents. I am afraid that they will be sold or offered to agents in Jakarta, who will send them to the Gulf.”
