![agony of pakistani women enslaved by dubai sex trade agony of pakistani women enslaved by dubai sex trade](https://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/735455-dubai-1405315127.jpg)
Pakistan has long been an important source of cheap labour for the Gulf state, particularly its booming construction sector.
But campaigners and officials say hundreds of young Pakistani women are also trafficked every year to supply the thriving sex trade in the brothels and nightclubs of Dubai. Zunera and her sister Shaista were two of them.
More than a year after she escaped, Zunera's pain is still etched into her stumbling, hesitant voice - and also into her body, which bears the marks of countless beatings.
Vivid, angry scars run the length of her legs from ankle to hip, reminders of a botched operation after she was shot three times by the gang who trafficked her.
Zunera and Shaista managed to escape their tormentors in 2013 but still live in hiding in a two-room house in a slum, fearing revenge attacks. AFP is withholding their full names and precise whereabouts for their safety.
Their ordeal began in her hometown in Punjab, when the family got into money trouble and a neighbour named Ayesha offered the sisters domestic work.
After a while Ayesha suggested she take the sisters to Dubai to work in her beauty parlour, getting fake papers to help the underage Zunera leave Pakistan.
Shaista is so traumatised by her experiences she can barely recount her harrowing ordeal.
Fighting back tears, Zunera revealed the horror that awaited them at Dubai.
"Ayesha took us to the lavatories at the airport and told us that we will be serving her clients for sex," Zunera told AFP.
"We started crying and then she told us that we travelled on fake documents and if we said anything we would be handed over to police right there."
Faced with no alternative, the sisters went with Ayesha, thinking they could just avoid having sex with clients.
"The first time, she herself was present in the room and made us do what the clients wanted. We were raped in front of her and with her assistance," Zunera said.
After that, Ayesha told the clients to keep their cell phones connected to her number during the intercourse so she could hear what was happening - and if they were refusing to cooperate.
"She used to torture us whenever we refused to perform certain sexual acts, and she told us that she knew whatever had happened inside the bedroom," Zunera said.
The women were not allowed to go out or even speak to one another freely. They could speak to their family in Pakistan by phone occasionally, but under duress.
"She used to beat one of us and ask the other sister to talk on phone to our parents, threatening to kill us if we revealed anything about the brothel," Zunera recalled.
From time to time Ayesha brought the women back to Pakistan to renew their visas, frightening them into silence by telling them she would kill their whole families if they revealed the life they had been tricked into.
But eventually in March 2013 the sisters plucked up the courage to share their ordeal to their elder sister Qamar, who eventually obtained their freedom - but at a cost.
"The brother of Ayesha and the younger brother of her husband came to our house. They fired three shots which hit me," Zunera said.
"In hospital, she sent policemen who harassed me and asked me to start walking despite the fact that my leg had undergone surgery."
The family fled from the hospital and went into hiding because their neighbours also started abusing them for being "prostitutes".
Zunera's family approached a court to try to crack trafficking ring run by Ayesha and her husband Ashfaq. The court ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to act but the case has since made little progress.
Lawyer Zulfiqar Ali Bhutta, who is fighting Zunera's case, says the trafficking gangs often have influential connections to politicians and the police.
"Several gangs smuggle dozens of young girls from Pakistan to Dubai for prostitution every week. Nobody takes action against them," Bhutta said.
"The main accused in this case, Ashfaq, fled from the court in front of FIA officials. They did not arrest him despite the court cancelling his bail," he said.
A recent US State Department report on people smuggling said the UAE government was making significant efforts to tackle sex trafficking, pointing to prosecutions and protection offered to victims.
In 2013, the US report said, the UAE government identified 40 victims and referred them to state-funded shelters.
But if the UAE authorities are keen to confront the problem, in Pakistan indifference reigns.
"It is true that hundreds of girls are being taken to Dubai for work in beauty parlours, in music and dance troupes, but there is no proof that any of them has been smuggled for prostitution," Syed Shahid Hassan, deputy director FIA Faisalabad, told AFP.
For Zunera and Shaista, their ordeal has abated but not ended.
Ayesha has surrendered to a court but been freed on bail. The sisters now live in constant fear that a gunman will come back for them.
COMMENTS (28)
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@Sonya: "But if the UAE authorities are keen to confront the problem, in Pakistan indifference reigns". This habit of blaming others for your problems is ridiculous.They were taken to UAE by a Pakistani,with a fraudulent passport.
I live in Abu Dhabi and I think there aremany cases like this in Dubai. But people/victim needs to infrom UAE police if they are facing any issue or the first time they face any issue. UAE Police will be there to help and solve thier issue and will send them back home (deportatinon). The thing is whether they (victims) were firstly willing to do any thing for money or not? You just ned to call 999 and tell your case.
@Ibrahim: True..but those 13% of Arabs get to call the shots....so they are ultimately responsible for the decisions to be taken at the government level
A Muslim cannot do this! It is a saazish!!
I feel very sorry for the girls. It has nothing to do with Muslim religion as alleged in the first post but influence by rich and politicians. Some one or NGO should help the girls to move UAE government where they will get justice and the guilty punished very quickly. UAE will demand deportation of the guilty that Pakistan can't afford to refuse. You guys need to sensationalize the matter and draw the attention of public just as we did in Nirbaya case in Delhi
Very sad news. People who are blaming Arabs, should realize that Arabs or Emirati Arabs only make 13% of UAE's population, more than 80% of UAE's population is foreigners, expats and South Asian from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, etc. make MORE THAN 50% of UAE's population. Most likely the men who take advantage of Desi girls are shamefully the fellow Pakistani day laborers who are away from their wives for years at a time. It is indeed a shame, also look at who took her to UAE, a fellow Pakistani woman, who has no shame.
@WB:
how do you know the people involved were Muslim? Does it say anywhere their religion? There are lots of Christians in Pakistan who have similar names. Appears you have a biased mind. Shows how immature you are.grow up.
@ali You said "Instead of killing each other Pakistanis should be killing these beasts."
When they kill 'These beasts', Pakistanis will still be killing each other. Unless, of course, you think that the trafficking is being carried out by America, Jewish or Indian agents.
Each and every young man or woman landing in Dubai or any sheikhdom should be checked for visa and passport thoroughly and made sure that the “sponsor” has a genuine business big enough to employ the youngster they are bringing in. The shady sponsor should not be allowed to import more than they can easily afford to employ in their proper business. The businesses must be restricted to bring in labor depending upon the amount of their taxes and income. The youngster should only be working in the described business and be interviewed all alone after their arrival. In fact prior to importing new kids the previous employs be interviewed to make sure they are ethically treated. But it is Pakistan and UAE, and who am I kidding!
"I don't know who carries out these killings. Both Daash and the Shiite militias wear black and anyone can buy a uniform or fake an identity card." Daash is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadist group, now known as Islamic State, which last month overran swathes of northern and western Iraq. The word is often used as a catch-all term for Sunni militants.
Shiite militias with connections to political parties hold sway over parts of Baghdad, while suicide blasts by Sunni extremists are still frequent, with sectarian killings on both sides routine. Both groups' extreme antipathy to sex workers is probably one of the few things they have in common.
Iraq: Sex workers slain amid culture of fear, secrecy - See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/iraqonthebrink/iraq-prostitutes-slain-amid-culture-of-fear-and-secrecy/article1-1239904.aspx#sthash.KkXE00my.dpuf
Well this can be an exceptional case here for Dubai but to my knowledge 1000s of girls send their pics and portfolios to the agents for this purpose. Even girls working in a reasonable companies in Pakistan specially take their annual leaves and arrange going to dubai. This is a brutal reality.
@Baba Ji:
"Once again it’s a woman who is bent upon destroying another woman !!!"
Is that what you see? I see a Muslim hellbent upon destroying another Muslim.
Its been shameful silence from Government.. I wonder how many young girls suffer such miserable life.
Strict action should be taken people who commit such crimes against women.
@raw is war: not just in uk it is happening all over the western world and also other non muslim countries ... Brazil has almost à million child prostitutes. Side effect of following un islamic practices of economic dev
Shame shame on those who claim to building tallest building in the world but reach the lowest depth of morality and concern for hapless human beings.
Dubai should take action immediately
Shame on our Police force who have been made incapable due to high level of politicization and ignoring merit continuously. This police system is unacceptable. This country will not survive with this type of politicized justice where police force always takes sides of the powerful. Professionalism, merit and justice is no where to be seen.
Same in Dawn http://www.dawn.com/news/1119149/agony-of-pakistani-women-enslaved-by-dubai-sex-trade
If this happens in UK, there will be lots of protests in London. Why not in Dubai?
@Bharat: Dubai is prosperous because of things happening under the carpet. They have to stay indifferent. ET reports that they solved just 40 cases during the whole calendar year 2013. You must get an idea now :)
@Sodomite .. Religion has nothing to do with this story. These sort of people exist in every society and religion. In fact they are far away from Islam, if they follow the basic teaching of Islam , they will not fall in to this tragedy.
The exploitation and no respect for humans belonging to poor countries is not new to the world - one day UAE will need to be answerable for these actions.
This is pathetic. UAE being a prosperous country should not turn a blind eye to suffering of these foreigners. Its no crime being poor and ultimately death is the only reality for everyone.
MashaAllah........ if all these FB jihadis changing their profile pictures cared about OUR people first!!
Infuriating! Why blame the police when the public conscious itself is dead or only wakes up for Palestinians.
What a wonderful life for being a Muslim in a Muslim country. Surely they must be following their religion in all aspects.