So we hear a lot about how countries liek Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia etc use slave labor because people from Africa, india, pakistan, bangladesh or whatever come over to work and then they live in horrible conditions and their employers steal their passports so they can’t leave. How does this stop anyone from leaving?
I know for a fact that if you lose a US passport while you are abroad you can go to the embasssy and report it lost and they print an emergency passport which can be used to leave the country. Yesterday i was at an airport in Poland and someone from Italy or something had his passport stolen and he used some document printed by the embassy allowing him to leave. Do countries like india or pakistan or whatever not have these? I get maybe its dificult for africans since many african countries only have a few embassies abroad in other countries or they might not offer many services but can these people who are “enslaved” not just go to their embassies and explain the situation so they can leave teh country? Do their countries just not give a shit that they’re being “enslaved?” I understnad that Gambia or Guinea Bisseau can’t stand up to the UAE but surely India or Pakistan can.
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It’s fine if you are prepared.
If you are unprepared how do you prove that you are who you are without a passport which may be your only form of ID at the time? It’s not an insurmountable challenge, but proving who you are from scratch is a problem even when you aren’t in a different country. Being abroad makes it harder.
Like at one point at a company I worked for when we sent people to SA for contract repairs to some of our equipment it was non unexpected that someone might take their passport “Till the job is done” Our guys were instructed to make sure to never have their driver’s license and passport in the same place, let them have the passport, work the day then immediately go to the embassy and go home instead of sticking around.
So, let’s say you are in a foreign country and you are working as a domestic servant. Your boss takes your passport then, you boss withholds your pay, beats you, rapes you, etc.
You can’t go to the police. Without a passport you could be removed for immigration reasons, because in most countries a foreign national has to have it with them. Your boss may even threaten you that if you go to the police, they will call the immigration authorities to have you deported. Depending on the laws of the country, if the police question your boss, they will believe everything they say and nothing that you say. If you say your boss took your passport, your boss will say no, you just never had one and he wants you deported because your immigration status is in question.
Well, maybe they could, but the places where these people are being held aren’t likely to give them any time, nor any opportunity, to leave to go to an embassy.
Plus, you’d need *some* form of ID to get a replacement, and that’s been taken too.
I don’t want to say that the government of the country might also be on the side of the kidnappers rather than the kidnapped, but that’s also a possibility: someone tries to get new documents, the officials intercept them either enroute to, or at the embassy (“yes, of course. We’ll deal with this, save you the hassle” and now the kidnapped are being handled by the government officials of the dubious country, and not by the embassy staff), and then they’re simply returned (for a fee) to their ‘owners’
It’s fine if you are prepared.
If you are unprepared how do you prove that you are who you are without a passport which may be your only form of ID at the time? It’s not an insurmountable challenge, but proving who you are from scratch is a problem even when you aren’t in a different country. Being abroad makes it harder.
Like at one point at a company I worked for when we sent people to SA for contract repairs to some of our equipment it was non unexpected that someone might take their passport “Till the job is done” Our guys were instructed to make sure to never have their driver’s license and passport in the same place, let them have the passport, work the day then immediately go to the embassy and go home instead of sticking around.
It depends.
In a poor country, there are lots and lots of people wanting to get out, by using all sorts of tricks.
The embassies as a result do not easily process people and also can get corrupt themselves or get high and think they are really powerful.
Either way, it might not be a walk in the park even if you have some other way to identify yourself and might take a long time.
And that’s if you have another way to id yourself, if you don’t, then it would be difficult to prove who you are.
Also, you might be threatened, beaten among other things to prevent you from seeking help.
Well, maybe they could, but the places where these people are being held aren’t likely to give them any time, nor any opportunity, to leave to go to an embassy.
Plus, you’d need *some* form of ID to get a replacement, and that’s been taken too.
I don’t want to say that the government of the country might also be on the side of the kidnappers rather than the kidnapped, but that’s also a possibility: someone tries to get new documents, the officials intercept them either enroute to, or at the embassy (“yes, of course. We’ll deal with this, save you the hassle” and now the kidnapped are being handled by the government officials of the dubious country, and not by the embassy staff), and then they’re simply returned (for a fee) to their ‘owners’
So, let’s say you are in a foreign country and you are working as a domestic servant. Your boss takes your passport then, you boss withholds your pay, beats you, rapes you, etc.
You can’t go to the police. Without a passport you could be removed for immigration reasons, because in most countries a foreign national has to have it with them. Your boss may even threaten you that if you go to the police, they will call the immigration authorities to have you deported. Depending on the laws of the country, if the police question your boss, they will believe everything they say and nothing that you say. If you say your boss took your passport, your boss will say no, you just never had one and he wants you deported because your immigration status is in question.
Here’s how it worked/works in Dubai. On arrival into the country there is an agent for the company that collects everyone’s passport to get your labor card, and loads them on the bus to the company housing. If you work as a domestic servant, your employer will ask to keep your passport in their safe for your own security.
What happens if you are a middle-class worker is that you will have your personal space, so you will have your birth certificate, and other ID documents in your possession. If you go to the Indian consulate, you will get a replacement passport in a few days. If you are a maid/laborer, you won’t bring your birth certificate, so you can’t get a replacement passport. For the middle class people who CAN get a replacement passport, you still can’t easily leave
– if you are leaving permanently, you need to cancel your residence visa which needs a no-objection letter from your employer/bank/police depending on the kind of sponsor. This means if you have a loan/police charges/pissed off your boss, you can be barred from leaving.
-if you are thinking, why not just leave without cancelling the visa, is that you can’t re-enter the country if the previous visa has not been cancelled. So if you have family etc, you can do a permanent complete family exit, or nothing.
– All debt is personal debt in Dubai and other Arab countries, and not paying is a crime. So if you miss a mortgage payment, or don’t pay a vendor, they will file a case against you that puts you on a travel watchlist. You can’t leave the country till you pay, and the cops are on their way to lock you up. Debt is the most common reason people want to leave.
– if you stop showing up to work, the company will report you as ‘absconding’ which also puts you on a travel watchlist.
If the situation with your employer goes bad, you basically need to work out your contract, no matter what. You cannot legally leave unless your employer allows it.
This is why I hate European hotels taking your passport. I don’t even know why they do that.
The people recruited for these jobs are often illiterate and unaware of the niceties of international diplomacy. They’re told that if they ‘go to the authorities’ they’ll be arrested and thrown in prison.
I can imagine how the Pakistani embassy in Dubai would treat an impoverished day laborer or sexually exploited maid who made it to their doorstep. It probably wouldn’t involve a cup of tea and a sympathetic ear.
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