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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I am a lawyer and used to represent human trafficking victims. There is a pipeline from southeast asia through the middle east, and then to major metropolitan areas in the US, mostly of domestic workers but also sex trafficking, who are coerced into coming over to work to send money back home. But once they arrive, passports taken for “safe keeping”, then paid nothing for 24/7 labor and told if they run to authorities they will be put in jail as illegally in the country. They often dont speak english and have no way of contacting family at home, and of course don’t know anyone here. There are AMAZING organizations, usually based around country of origin, that help identify and assist these individuals, connect them with pro bono lawyers (like me). People have no idea its happening. You have probably seen trafficked folks if you were around large numbers of domestic workers in DC or NYC for example. Its so bad the state department considered revoking visas for domestic workers for diplomats coming from the middle east at some point. Its real and its super evil.
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