Source: Kuwait saga: Trio granted bail | The Herald September 7, 2016
Fungai Lupande : Court Reporter
Three women suspected of being part of an organised human trafficking syndicate that lured female job-seekers to Kuwait on the pretext of decent employment were on Monday granted $300 bail each. Norest Maruma (30), Margret Nyamande (23) and Lorraine Nhapata (30) are facing eight counts of contravening some sections of the Trafficking in Persons Act (Recruits, transfers, harbours or receives another person that he or she knows or suspects is being or is likely to be trafficked or attempts, assists or conspires with others for the commission of the crime of trafficking).
As part of their bail conditions, Harare magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe ordered the trio to surrender their passports, not to interfere with witnesses and report to CID Law and Order every Friday.
They are expected in court on October 6.
In granting bail, Mr Mahwe said the others accused of similar offences were granted bail.
“There is need to treat all accused the same. The accused have fixed addresses and are not a flight risk,” he said.
It is alleged the trio sold the human trafficking victims into prostitution and other menial jobs.
The court heard that the trio unlawfully and intentionally recruited and transferred the first unsuspecting victims to Kuwait on the pretext that they had secured decent employment for them.
It is alleged that soon after the victims arrived in Kuwait, their passports were taken away by their employers.
The court heard the victims landed into slavery and exploitation. They would allegedly work for more than 22 hours a day without rest.
It is the State’s case that they were not allowed to communicate with the outside world and suffered trauma and experienced psychological disturbances.
It is alleged that the victims fled their employers and were repatriated by the Zimbabwean Government after seeking assistance from the country’s embassy in Kuwait.
COMMENTS
The enslavement and the abuse by the Kuwaitis and other Arab nationals working in Kuwait is very common and has been an unending saga of the helpless expats not only from Zimbabwe but a great majority from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, and now from China has been in the limelight for years and all their representative embassies in Kuwait are fully aware of these atrocities and illegalities committed by their employers. Suicides and physical abuse is rising and the Kuwaiti, Saudi, Qatari, Bahrainian, and other government bodies have always looked the other way. Zimbabwe on the other hand a smaller number of such unfortunate domestic workers who suffer the same unfortunate cruelty and inhumane treatments by these Arab countries. All the international human rights organizations have voiced their desperations without any remedy so far. With the total support from the loudest human rights proponents like the USA, UK, Germany, France, and rest of the European countries have not raised an iota of an issue within their powers to eradicate or even minimize the continued abuses by these countries as they are considered the allies of the American and the European countries. The hypocrisy and the double standard practiced by the “civilized west” is appalling, to say the least. Unless Zimbabwe enacts band or some kind of a restriction to allow such exploitation by such people, this agony and misery would continue to exist.