Royal fight against trafficking

Plans to set up a regional office and shelter in Bahrain to help the victims of human trafficking were unveiled at the weekend by a campaigning Saudi princess.

Princess Madawi Abdulrahman Al Saud joined a group of volunteers at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) to promote a foundation she has set up in Abu Dhabi to tackle the issue.

She said: “So few people know about the horror of human trafficking. I was talking to someone about it and they actually said to me: ‘What is human trafficking? Do you mean the traffic lights in the street?’ That made me really furious and I realised I needed to do something about it.

“That’s why I came to the BIC, to raise awareness and pass out questionnaires to collect data on how many people know about it. Unfortunately, it appears, few do.

“When I approached people along with the team of volunteers we were greeted with similar reactions. Some people were shocked. Others were in denial and some don’t believe it even exists.

“But coming to Bahrain has opened a lot of doors, which is why, I hope to expand my work and open a foundation here too.”

The 28-year-old was joined at the BIC by her fiancé Khalid, also 28, passing out brochures, selling campaign T-shirts and talking to visitors attending the World Endurance Championships.

In June she helped launch The Ibtissam Foundation, an organisation based on her mother’s name, in Abu Dhabi where she now lives, to raise awareness and provide a support network for its victims.

She hopes to shape legislation and help create a new enforceable Gulf-wide common law that can be used to protect those exploited at the hands of traffickers.

Princess Madawi said: “Human trafficking is a form of slavery and a direct violation of human rights. It is related to forced labour, sexual exploitation and even the illegal trading of human organs. The victims are usually hidden away from the world and are of all ages and nationalities.

“The UAE government has been doing a great job in regards to tackling this issue head-on by introducing maximum penalties of life imprisonment covering all forms of human trafficking. There is even a shelter that takes in victimised women and children. Unfortunately, not a lot can be said about the rest of the GCC.”

Princess Madawi’s stall, located in the vending area, featured T-shirts with slogans stating ‘Not For Sale’, a peace sign, and a hand with the word: STOP.

Students and teachers from St Christopher’s School volunteered their time to help. Latifa Al Bin Ali, 16, from Hidd, said: “A lot of people around the world don’t even know that it is the third largest crime, aside from drugs and arms trafficking.

“I was interested to volunteer because I think it’s a really cruel thing to do and people should know about it.”
Princess Madawi worked at The Ewa’a Shelter for Women and Children, a non-profit entity set up by the UAE Red Crescent Authority, in co-operation with the UAE National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, to provide victims of trafficking or sexual abuse with a safe, temporary shelter as well as the necessary medical, psychological and social assistance.

It was during her 18-months working there as a media co-ordinator that she got the idea of writing her thesis on sex trafficking in the GCC. Princess Madawi, who studied at Sorborne University, said: “I got really close to the victims. They were my friends and they were broken. That made me passionate about the cause.

“I found myself researching a lot more and wanting to share what I had found with the world.”

Now, alongside her work with the foundation and after completing her masters in international law, she is studying for her PhD at Brunel University Law School in London.

She aims to raise awareness and encourage governments and authorities in the region to work together in solving the issue. She said: “Human trafficking is getting worse every year. If there were a common law in the GCC it would help the victims feel more confident to seek help.”

During her time at the shelter, the princess met victims and heard firsthand their horrifying experiences. Children as young as five had been sold by their families to become servants and ended up sexually abused. Other cases involved young adults, mostly women, falling victim to recruitment websites offering false promises of better wages and living standards and ending up under the control of pimps and being forced to work as prostitutes.

The princess said: “A woman will usually answer the phone and the caller will be offered a job as a trainee hair dresser, a waitress or a maid for a certain salary and time frame. The girl will then arrive at the airport to be greeted by a woman to make her feel at ease. It’s after that it can all go wrong.

“Victims end up being taken to secluded areas where they are often tortured into submission. Their passports have been taken, they are usually locked in a room, locked in a house, not allowed to use the phone or leave. They do not have money and are abused mentally and physically.”

The United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) was launched in 2007 to promote the global fight on human trafficking, on the basis of international agreements reached at the UN.

To date, 140 parties have signed the protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking, which supplements the Palermo Convention against trans-national organised crime.

A conference entitled, Human Trafficking at the Crossroads, was held in Bahrain in 2009. It brought together more than 300 representatives from governments, United Nations entities, non-governmental and international organisations, the business community, academia and civil society.

Her Royal Highness Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa highlighted Bahrain’s efforts to combat it at both the national and international levels.

Princess Madawi hopes her future plans will assist these efforts. She said: “In Abu Dhabi at the moment, they are putting a lot of awareness at the airport so if anybody needs any help they know who to approach in the first instance. They should also do this in Bahrain and other GCC countries.”

* For further details follow Twitter @Ibtissam_Fndn or on Instagram @ibtissamfoundation.