Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery
In the early years of the 21st Century gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Kuwait.htm
| State of Kuwait Kuwait is a small, rich, relatively open economy with self-reported crude oil reserves of about 104 billion barrels - 8% of world reserves. Petroleum accounts for nearly half of GDP, 95% of export revenues, and 80% of government income. [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009] |  |
Kuwait is a destination country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor. The majority of trafficking victims are from among the over 500,000 foreign women recruited for domestic service work in Kuwait. Men and women migrate from Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in search of work in the domestic and sanitation industries. Although they migrate willingly to Kuwait, upon arrival some are subjected to conditions of forced labor from their "sponsors" and labor agents, such as withholding of passports, confinement, physical sexual abuse and threats of such abuse or other serious harm, and non-payment of wages with the intent of compelling their continued service. Adult female migrant workers are particularly vulnerable, and consequently are often victims of sexual exploitation and forced prostitution. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report]
CAUTION: The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Kuwait. Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt has been made to verify their authenticity or to validate their content.
*** FEATURED ARTICLE ***
Forced Labor and Debt Bondage
Human Rights Watch Global Report on Women's Human Rights, 1995
[accessed 13 June 2013]
[scroll down]
KUWAIT - Nearly 2,000 women domestic workers every year since the liberation of Kuwait in 1991 have fled the homes of abusive employers. These women are mainly from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and India. They report patterns of rape and physical assault, with debt bondage and illegal confinement being common. Kuwait has long depended on foreign workers to be the backbone on its labor. Unfortunately, Kuwait's law excludes domestic workers from their labor law protections. The maids' exclusion from the labor law creates isolation and denies them even minimal protection against unfair practices. Because of the isolation and the stigma of sexual assault, most domestic workers face many obstacles and are deterred from reporting employer abuse to the authorities.
*** ARCHIVES ***
Cameroonians Rescued From Human Traffickers
Moki Edwin Kindzeka, Voice of America VOA News, 10 July 2015
[accessed 12 July 2015]
As some 50 Cameroonian women recover in a trauma center from their ordeals of forced labor in Middle East homes, calls are resounding for the central African nation's government to investigate and prosecute the human traffickers allegedly responsible for their plight.
Some of the women said they were deceived by television ads claiming there was work in Kuwait for domestic help, nurses and airport employees.
Claudette Amikeh, 27, said she was treated like a slave during a year in Kuwait. She complained of little time to sleep and, "at times, no food, [only] stress."
Amikeh said she begged to be returned to Cameroon, but "this woman said I am going nowhere: I have come to work, I must work. I went down on my knees…. I cried to God for help. I prayed and cried."
Beatrice Titanji, who runs the trauma center, said these human traffickers also collect an advance salary of $3,000 from Middle East people who contract for the women's services. They don't give the money to the women.
200 Kuwaitis, 40 firms blacklisted over human trafficking
Kuwait News Agency KUNA, September 22, 2008
[accessed 17 February 2011]
[scroll down]
HUMAN TRADERS, FIRMS BANNED - Two hundred Kuwaitis and 40 companies have been blacklisted and banned from recruiting domestic laborers due to their alleged involvement in human trafficking, Al-Watan Arabic daily quoted informed sources as saying. Meanwhile, 500 expatriates were arrested for violating the residency law and were referred to authorities.
Governing Justly and Combating Human Trafficking: The Linkages
Mark P. Lagon, Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Remarks at the Freedom House-SAIS "Human Trafficking and Freedom" Event, Washington DC, December 3, 2007
[accessed 10 July 2013]
In many countries in the Persian Gulf region too, to be a woman or a migrant often means less than equal treatment under the law and in practice, but to be a woman migrant leaves you in a really tough spot. Recently I met a 24 year old woman from Nepal who worked as a domestic in Kuwait. She'd been beaten and had numerous bite marks all over her arms and back from a sadistic woman who felt impunity to treat her as NO human should be treated. She was, simply, a slave in her employer's house.
Kuwait lashes U.S. human rights report
Xinhua News Agency, Kuwait City, 28 June 2007
[accessed 17 February 2011]
Rejecting the accusation made by the U.S. report saying Kuwaitis running human trafficking in an excuse of reducing global joblessness, the committee said in the statement that "The State of Kuwait opens its arms to those incoming workers and even provides them with all available job opportunities, unlike many other countries which combat and deport them on the grounds of fighting illegal immigration." "By doing so, Kuwait ought to be commended, appreciated and even placed on an honors list," it added.
Human trafficking
Muna Al-Fuzai, Kuwait Times, June 20, 2007
www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=OTY4NzI4NjQw
[accessed 28 November 2010]
New labor regulations and civilized working laws that leave no place for the sponsor's moods and thoughts must be enforced. One issue that many maids complain about is that they have no rights in deciding their place of work meaning they have no say when their sponsor moves them from one house to another, like the house of a sponsor's relative or friend.
If we had a clear law to prevent their sponsors from acting freely in this matter, many troubles could be solved in this regard. Not all sponsors are doing this, but some are so we have to think about how to eliminate such actions. Giving a day off for a maid seems a small issue but it was a problem for many maids here. House maids are not supposed to work around the clock and their rights in these matters must be clear and must be respected by their sponsors.
The wages and the means of payment are also problems for many workers and they need a policy to protect their rights and not only the sponsor's rights. These matters started as a molehill but have now turned into a mountain because there has never been a visible solution to handle it over the years. The sponsorship system needs a quick revision and update based on international laws and human rights laws especially regarding working hours and wages with days off.
New study shames human traffickers
Patrick Mathangani, The Standard, May 11, 2007
At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 7 September 2011]
Countries in the Middle East have been named as the worst culprits of human trafficking.
A new report by an international trade unions' umbrella organisation says Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen are notorious destinations for women trafficked from Kenya.
Its report, 'Trafficking in Persons — The Eastern Africa Situation', notes that women and children were favourite targets for well-organised trafficking rings, which operate freely for lack of solid laws against the vice.
Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 4 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free
2009 Edition
[accessed 26 June 2012]
Human Rights Overview
Human Rights Watch
[accessed 17 February 2011]
U.S. Library of Congress - Country Study
Library of Congress Call Number DS247.A13 P47 1994
[accessed 17 February 2011]
Two sides of women's oppression
Sara Flounders, Workers World newspaper, March 11, 2004
www.workers.org/ww/2004/women0311.php
[accessed 17 February 2011]
DISMANTLING GUARANTEED RIGHTS - In these societies women are literally slaves, imprisoned in the home and held captive within a repressive patriarchal system. They have no right to work or control their own funds or even to drive a car. They cannot even travel unaccompanied by a male family member. They have no right to vote or to participate in any form of political life.
In Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and throughout the oil-rich Gulf states, women have no rights that any man is bound to respect. They have no right to decide who they will marry, nor do they have a right to divorce, even from an abusive husband. Education is separate--and so unequal that most women in oil-rich Saudi Arabia are still illiterate.
Ansar Burney Trust rescues two more 'Child Camel Jockeys' in UAE
Pakistan Press International PPI, Lahore, 09 October 2004
At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 7 September 2011]
The Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International is the only human rights organisation working since last several years practically against slave labour in Middle East and Arab Countries to rescue the innocent children working as child camel jockeys in very worst circumstances. It has rescued total 318 children in this current year, 147 children on slave in UAE and 171 children from Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Muscat, Kuwait and other parts of the Arab and Middle East countries and sent them back to Bangladesh, Pakistan, Srilanka and other respective countries for their rehabilitation. These children were trafficked from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and several countries in Africa and brought to the Middle Eastern and Arab countries for several reasons including for sex and slave labour.
Slavery of Children and women in Persian gulf countries
Morteza Aminmansour, Persian Journal, Jun 20, 2004
At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 7 September 2011]
Exact number of victims is impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in UAE, there has been increase in the number of teen-age girls in prostitution (forced to work from Iran and other countries). The magnitude of the statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown. The popular destinations for victims of the sex slave trade are the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf (UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar). Traffickers target girls between 13 and 17 to send to Arab countries. The number of Iranian women and girls who are deported from Persian Gulf countries indicates the Magnitude of the trade.
Forced Labor and Debt Bondage
Human Rights Watch Global Report on Women's Human Rights, 1995
[accessed 13 June 2013]
[scroll down]
KUWAIT - Nearly 2,000 women domestic workers every year since the liberation of Kuwait in 1991 have fled the homes of abusive employers. These women are mainly from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and India. They report patterns of rape and physical assault, with debt bondage and illegal confinement being common. Kuwait has long depended on foreign workers to be the backbone on its labor. Unfortunately, Kuwait's law excludes domestic workers from their labor law protections. The maids' exclusion from the labor law creates isolation and denies them even minimal protection against unfair practices. Because of the isolation and the stigma of sexual assault, most domestic workers face many obstacles and are deterred from reporting employer abuse to the authorities.
Campaigning against Bonded Labour
International Federation of Workers' Education Associations IFWEA Journal, December 2000
At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 7 September 2011]
MIGRANT DOMESTIC WORKERS - The experience of Alice illustrates how many are tricked into debt bondage. Recruited from Manila for work in Kuwait, Alice was eventually taken by her employers to work for them in London.
Despite Alice's qualification as a civil engineer in Manila, the pay was not enough to support her and her family. She answered an advert recruiting engineers to Kuwait offering 215 Pounds per month -- six times her Philippine salary. Against her expected salary her family borrowed money so she could pay the agency's fee, half of which was due before leaving Manila. Upon arriving in Kuwait City she found that there were no civil engineering posts, only jobs for maids at a salary considerably less than she was promised. With no money to pay the agency or to pay for the flight back home, she had no choice but to sign a contract to work as a domestic.
Her day began at 5:30am and only ended once all of the adults had gone to bed, which was regularly after 2am. She had no time off, not even to go to church or to write letters home.
After two and a half years in Kuwait Alice was taken to London. Following an attack in which her employer tried to rape her she fled. It was the first time she had been out of the house.
The New Slavery
Kevin Bales, "Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy" Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999
[accessed 17 February 2011]
WHAT DOES RACE HAVE TO DO WITH IT? - It is true that in some countries there are ethnic or religious differences between slaves and slaveholders. In Pakistan, for example, many enslave brickmakers are Christians while the slaveholders are Muslim. In India slave and slaveholder may be from different castes. In Thailand they may come from different regions of the country and are much more likely to be women. But in Pakistan there are Christians who are not slaves, in India members of the same caste who are free. Their caste or religion simply reflects their vulnerability to enslavement; it doesn't cause it. Only in one country, Mauritania, does the racism of the old slavery persist -- there black slaves are held by Arab slaveholders, and race is a key division. To be sure, some cultures are more divided along racial lines than others. Japanese culture strongly distinguishes the Japanese as different from everyone else, and so enslaved prostitutes in Japan are more likely to be Thai, Philippine, or European women -- although they may be Japanese. Even here, the key difference is not racial but economic: Japanese women are not nearly so vulnerable and desperate as Thais or Filipinas. And the Thai women are available for shipment to Japan because Thais are enslaving Thais. The same pattern occurs in the oil-rich states of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where Muslim Arabs promiscuously enslave Sri Lankan Hindus, Filipino Christians, and Nigerian Muslims. The common denominator is poverty, not color. Behind every assertion of ethnic difference is the reality of economic disparity.
A death sentence for a young Filipino maid highlights the problem of abuse of Asian servants
Michael S. Serrill, Reported by Scott MacLeod/Al-Ain and Nelly Sindayen/Manila, TIME, October 23, 1995
[accessed 17 February 2011]
Despite the settlement, the case cast a spotlight on a dark practice throughout the Arabian peninsula: an almost medieval system of servitude that each year turns thousands of young women from underdeveloped Asian countries into virtual slaves for prosperous Arab families. The women are frequently lured to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the lesser emirates and sultanates by shady "employment agents" who offer them attractive-sounding jobs at relatively high pay. Once there, they learn that much of the money they initially earn--the going rate is $100 to $150 a month--goes to pay for their airfare and the employment agent's fee.
Worse, the maids find themselves in virtual bondage to their employers, who almost without exception confiscate the servants' passports to prevent them from walking out before fulfilling their typical two-year contract. It is common for the maids to be forced to work from dawn to midnight, seven days a week. Often they are fed scraps and leftovers, are beaten and verbally abused and, in the worst cases, raped and murdered. Only in the most egregious instances is an employer ever charged with sexual abuse or assault.
The Overthrow Of The American Republic - Part 30
Sherman H. Skolnick, RENSE.COM, March 22, 2003
[accessed 17 February 2011]
Point by point, I discussed the findings of a unit of the United Nations which had documented a terrible truth. Here it was, late in the 20th Century, I told the crowd, that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, according to undisputed details of the U.N. unit, each had huge numbers of BLACK CHATTEL SLAVES. Saudi, according to the findings, had about one hundred thousand such slaves and Kuwait about fifty thousand of the same.
Work Worries - Women going abroad to work is leading to more human trafficking
Lanka Business Online, 04 Mar 2005
[accessed 17 February 2011]
Sri Lankan women are trafficked to Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar, mainly as sex workers or for forced labor.
Human Rights Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 8, 2006
[accessed 17 February 2011]
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – The country is a destination for men, women, and children trafficked primarily from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Some foreign workers, mostly female domestics, have been abused by their employers and coerced into situations of debt bondage or involuntary servitude. Instances of laborers associated with visa trading schemes and women trafficked into prostitution were reported during the year. The principal traffickers were labor recruitment agencies and sponsors of domestic workers.
The physical or sexual abuse of foreign women working as domestic servants was a problem. Some employers physically abused foreign women working as domestic servants, and despite economic and social difficulties for a domestic servant to lodge a complaint, these women continued to report such abuse. The local press devoted considerable attention to the problem, and both the police and courts have taken action against employers when presented with evidence of serious abuse. Some rapes resulted in pregnancies, and there were reports of illegal abortions. Occasionally domestic workers were charged with assaulting their employers; in such cases the workers claimed that they acted in response to physical abuse or poor working conditions.
Human Rights Reports » 2003 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 25, 2004
[accessed 17 February 2011]
WOMEN - There were some reports of women, mainly from Asia, who were trafficked into the country into situations of coerced labor, where they often suffered from physical abuse or other extreme working conditions. Some female domestic servants who ran away from their employers due to abuse or poor working conditions were recruited or kidnapped into prostitution.
Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights [PDF]
UN COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CESCR, Thirty-second session, 26 April-14 May 2004 – Distributed 7 June 2004
[accessed 2 September 2014]
[41] The Committee recommends that the State party take effective measures to combat trafficking in persons, especially in women and children, by ensuring, inter alia, that those responsible for trafficking are prosecuted, and to ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, of 2001. The Committee recommends that the State party establish support services for victims of trafficking and take steps to sensitize law enforcement officials and the general public to the gravity of this issue.
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Christ appears in your life right here, right now: one nanosecond after you believe and confess that Jesus is Lord.
https://www.facebook.com/CAYMCameroon
https://www.facebook.com/CAYMCameroon
On Monday, September 28, 2015 10:12 AM, "Ofege Ntemfac ntemfacnchwete@gmail.com [Cameroon_at50uk]" <Cameroon_at50uk@yahoogroups.co.uk> wrote:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ofege Ntemfac <ntemfacofege@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Sep 28, 2015 at 10:06 AM
Subject: Consequence of Colonization and Economic Cleansing -Trafficking Southern British Cameroonian Children; girls to Kuwait children to Francophone Africa
To: Ambasbay CamerGoogleGroup <ambasbay@googlegroups.com>, African GM <africanworldforum@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Nebukadineze Adiele' via NaijaEvent <naijaevent@googlegroups.com>, "globalcameroun@yahoogroups.com" <globalcameroun@yahoogroups.com>, "cameroons_sdf_party@yahoogroups.com" <cameroons_sdf_party@yahoogroups.com>, "shesausa@yahoogroups.com" <shesausa@yahoogroups.com>, "camreview@yahoogroups.com" <camreview@yahoogroups.com>, Naija Politics <naijapolitics@yahoogroup.com>, "nigeriaworldforum@yahoogroups.com" <nigeriaworldforum@yahoogroups.com>
"I am very visible. I have an office. We are a legal entity in Cameroon. The problem is that there are hundreds of agents in Cameroon but they cannot be identified, – they operate illegally. I am just the drop in the ocean of people from Cameroon doing this. I operate clearly, orderly and with transparency. Egyawan spoke to Chris Anu. EXCEPTS.
For how long has your agency been operational and where is the office in Cameroon located?
My office is located in Mile 16 Buea. The details of my office are on my website. My organization started in 2012. I started sending people to Kuwait in February 2015.
We realized that you advertise in both Cameroon and Nigeria. Approximately how many Africans/Cameroonians have you resettled abroad?
I have sent over 50 Cameroonians and some Togolese and one Nigerian.
Which countries have the highest intake of the clients that you move abroad?
I send all my workers to Kuwait because there I have an agency that works with me to take good care of the girls. I have no other knowledge of my sponsored workers going anywhere else. I learned through friends that I have in Dubai that some people go there. But that has nothing to do with our organization.
Your advertising suggests that everything is free including air ticket, visa – in fact, even the entire period of their outing/contract. How are candidates that travel under your agency qualified?
Yes, for house maids the visa and ticket is paid for by their sponsoring employer through the Agency in Kuwait. That is why we charge only 150,000 FRS which takes care of their medicals and their administrative activities to facilitate their travel.
Can you tell us where your agency in Kuwait is located? What is the name and is it registered to do legitimate business in Kuwait?
No, I don't have an agency that I own in Kuwait. But I work with a registered agency in Kuwait. Mr. Hagos Burhane is our representative in Kuwait. I will need to get his permission to give you his address there. But you can talk to him. I am very visible, I have an office. We are a legal entity in Cameroon.
Your agent Mr. Burhane, is he African or Kuwaiti citizen? Does he speak English?
Yes, he speaks English. He is Ethiopian and again, he speaks really good English.
This is certainly a business that you do, how do you benefit from this?
When I successfully send someone to Kuwait and they reach there and pass a second medical and go through a probation period I am rewarded for my job.
And how long is this probation period?
Three months.
Your ad also states that your agency guarantees the security of your clients throughout their stay in Kuwait. How do you actually do that?
We have agencies in Kuwait in three locations with vehicles. All the workers and their sponsors' information is left in the office. And our office works almost round the clock. If any worker calls that they do not like the house they are in, the agent calls me and informs me and he goes to that location or orders the sponsor to bring them to the office and we change them.
We have relocated some, even four times just to get them a work location where they are comfortable. When they say they are okay then that is where they stay. They like to work where they feel good and with families where they feel loved and safe.
Most of the times they move because of language barriers. Whatever the case, if they make any complains that they do not like the house, we move them. I had a case were one of them was stealing in the house, I have videos and confession and audio which I will not provide for the privacy of the person. We ordered the sponsor not to touch her. My agent quickly went there and took her and she was deported.
Everyone deported for one reason or the other is asked to pay a penalty for breaking the contract. But because our agency is caring, most of them cannot pay. So that is deducted from my money. Meaning that I have paid for all of them just because I care about their well-being.
Many Cameroonians are now being enslaved as we have learned recently in these countries, what do you know? Can you vouch to the families of clients you have sent there that they are all doing fine?
It will interest you to know that I have only a little fraction compared to the thousands of Cameroonians who are there. I cannot speak for others. But I can tell you that most of my families – I mean the people I have sent there who want to talk to their family members, if they do not hear from them, I do everything possible for them to speak to them. Some of those families can tell you how their children are doing. I even have a friend who is a police officer. He calls his sister in-law that I sent there on weekly bases. I have my own younger sister too there. We talk to her almost every day on Facebook, skype or WhatsApp. I just sent her and her friend a phone.
So, I can tell you that yes, we take care of our workers and everyone who went there and did their job is fine. With the exception of five who came back and two who ran away. One of them had illegally used her master's phone to call Cameroon and the bill came up to over $300 and she refused to admit it. She was taken to the police, but she was released eventually and her passport given back to her. But she refused to come back to the office. The other one changed about three houses and the last house she worked, she ran away and is working somewhere else in Kuwait and I am still in communication with her. Her complain is has been hard work.
The other girl about the police said that she does not work in their house. So I asked her if she knew what she was coming to do. She said yes – because she signed the contract. For her, because I know it was laziness, I allowed her to call her family to send her air ticket back but she ran away.
And have any of your clients been a victim of social injustice abroad?
Not that I know of. I have handled all their complains to the best of my ability.
Can you provide us with at least 10 contacts of some of your clients who can testify to their treatment in Kuwait?
Yes, I can, but I will do that to you personally. I would not like their names or numbers to be published except they give you that right. I will mix theirs with numbers of family members you can also call. And some that came back from Kuwait who still wish to go back there. (We note here that John Egyawan actually provided us with a handful of phone numbers for both Kuwait and Cameroon to call for further investigations.)
You are now under investigation by Cameroonian authorities, can you vouch that your dealings in this business have been very clean and according to the laws?
Very clean. I even fired my administrator because of bad dealings in my back. I have fired most of my agents because they tell lies and charge too much fees from people. My administrator and some of the agents working for me decided to recruit people in my name and then sent them out through another Agency in Kuwait. I only came to know when one of my younger brothers told me and when one girl returned from Kuwait and came to our office to ask for a 550,000 FRS she was charged. Come to find out she was processed through my administrator behind my back and she did not travel through my channel. We made that known to her clearly and she understood. The authorities will only see clean business. And they will see that we care about the girls we send over there.
Are you suing CRTV as we're learning?
From: Ofege Ntemfac <ntemfacofege@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Sep 28, 2015 at 10:06 AM
Subject: Consequence of Colonization and Economic Cleansing -Trafficking Southern British Cameroonian Children; girls to Kuwait children to Francophone Africa
To: Ambasbay CamerGoogleGroup <ambasbay@googlegroups.com>, African GM <africanworldforum@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Nebukadineze Adiele' via NaijaEvent <naijaevent@googlegroups.com>, "globalcameroun@yahoogroups.com" <globalcameroun@yahoogroups.com>, "cameroons_sdf_party@yahoogroups.com" <cameroons_sdf_party@yahoogroups.com>, "shesausa@yahoogroups.com" <shesausa@yahoogroups.com>, "camreview@yahoogroups.com" <camreview@yahoogroups.com>, Naija Politics <naijapolitics@yahoogroup.com>, "nigeriaworldforum@yahoogroups.com" <nigeriaworldforum@yahoogroups.com>
People,
How many of us listened in to this harrowing report by Randy Joe Sa'ah on BBC Focus on Africa concerning the trafficking of "Anglophone" university graduates to Kuwait where they are subjected to slave labour and abused and tortured and used as sex slaves by the Kuwaiti lord and ladies of the manor?
You guessed it. The children living out this evil are from Buea and other parts of the Southern British Cameroons where, faced with the absence of choices, parents are now forced to sacrifice their children to Molech.
Mr Sa'ah report featured this heart-rending case of a female UB graduate shipped out by some Shylock modern slave trader to Kuwait. The girl says she was the cook, the wash woman, etc for this Kuwaiti family who even insisted that she satisfy then sexually as well.
Fellows like one John Egyawan, who says he is a "minister of the gospel" (whatever that means) have grown fat and pompous living off human misery as modern slave traders.
A local community group Nkumu Fed Fed (bali nyongha) is fighting for the girls.
Even as some of us spend time writing nonsense on the Internet.
My Agency Does Legitimate Clean Business – Sponsor of Cameroon Girls to Kuwait
John Egyawan, a minister of the gospel operates one of the agencies in Buea that sponsors young Cameroonian girls for work in Kuwait. Last week, CRTV magazine program – Cameroon Calling, opened a can of worms with some of the girls testifying to being tortured, enslaved and abused. The program then accused Egyawan and his organisation mainly, of trafficking the girls who end up abused and tortured in Kuwait and Lebanon.
The Cameroon Journal set out to get Egyawan's side of the story on how he conducts this business. He was very categorical that the case of the abused girls has nothing to do with his agency. He actually feels like his is a victim when he said he is being singled out because they cannot identify the other agencies."I am very visible. I have an office. We are a legal entity in Cameroon. The problem is that there are hundreds of agents in Cameroon but they cannot be identified, – they operate illegally. I am just the drop in the ocean of people from Cameroon doing this. I operate clearly, orderly and with transparency. Egyawan spoke to Chris Anu. EXCEPTS.
For how long has your agency been operational and where is the office in Cameroon located?
My office is located in Mile 16 Buea. The details of my office are on my website. My organization started in 2012. I started sending people to Kuwait in February 2015.
John Egyawan, "I work with a registered agency in Kuwait"
We realized that you advertise in both Cameroon and Nigeria. Approximately how many Africans/Cameroonians have you resettled abroad?
I have sent over 50 Cameroonians and some Togolese and one Nigerian.
Which countries have the highest intake of the clients that you move abroad?
I send all my workers to Kuwait because there I have an agency that works with me to take good care of the girls. I have no other knowledge of my sponsored workers going anywhere else. I learned through friends that I have in Dubai that some people go there. But that has nothing to do with our organization.
Your advertising suggests that everything is free including air ticket, visa – in fact, even the entire period of their outing/contract. How are candidates that travel under your agency qualified?
Yes, for house maids the visa and ticket is paid for by their sponsoring employer through the Agency in Kuwait. That is why we charge only 150,000 FRS which takes care of their medicals and their administrative activities to facilitate their travel.
Can you tell us where your agency in Kuwait is located? What is the name and is it registered to do legitimate business in Kuwait?
No, I don't have an agency that I own in Kuwait. But I work with a registered agency in Kuwait. Mr. Hagos Burhane is our representative in Kuwait. I will need to get his permission to give you his address there. But you can talk to him. I am very visible, I have an office. We are a legal entity in Cameroon.
Your agent Mr. Burhane, is he African or Kuwaiti citizen? Does he speak English?
Yes, he speaks English. He is Ethiopian and again, he speaks really good English.
This is certainly a business that you do, how do you benefit from this?
When I successfully send someone to Kuwait and they reach there and pass a second medical and go through a probation period I am rewarded for my job.
And how long is this probation period?
Three months.
Your ad also states that your agency guarantees the security of your clients throughout their stay in Kuwait. How do you actually do that?
We have agencies in Kuwait in three locations with vehicles. All the workers and their sponsors' information is left in the office. And our office works almost round the clock. If any worker calls that they do not like the house they are in, the agent calls me and informs me and he goes to that location or orders the sponsor to bring them to the office and we change them.
We have relocated some, even four times just to get them a work location where they are comfortable. When they say they are okay then that is where they stay. They like to work where they feel good and with families where they feel loved and safe.
Most of the times they move because of language barriers. Whatever the case, if they make any complains that they do not like the house, we move them. I had a case were one of them was stealing in the house, I have videos and confession and audio which I will not provide for the privacy of the person. We ordered the sponsor not to touch her. My agent quickly went there and took her and she was deported.
Everyone deported for one reason or the other is asked to pay a penalty for breaking the contract. But because our agency is caring, most of them cannot pay. So that is deducted from my money. Meaning that I have paid for all of them just because I care about their well-being.
Many Cameroonians are now being enslaved as we have learned recently in these countries, what do you know? Can you vouch to the families of clients you have sent there that they are all doing fine?
It will interest you to know that I have only a little fraction compared to the thousands of Cameroonians who are there. I cannot speak for others. But I can tell you that most of my families – I mean the people I have sent there who want to talk to their family members, if they do not hear from them, I do everything possible for them to speak to them. Some of those families can tell you how their children are doing. I even have a friend who is a police officer. He calls his sister in-law that I sent there on weekly bases. I have my own younger sister too there. We talk to her almost every day on Facebook, skype or WhatsApp. I just sent her and her friend a phone.
So, I can tell you that yes, we take care of our workers and everyone who went there and did their job is fine. With the exception of five who came back and two who ran away. One of them had illegally used her master's phone to call Cameroon and the bill came up to over $300 and she refused to admit it. She was taken to the police, but she was released eventually and her passport given back to her. But she refused to come back to the office. The other one changed about three houses and the last house she worked, she ran away and is working somewhere else in Kuwait and I am still in communication with her. Her complain is has been hard work.
The other girl about the police said that she does not work in their house. So I asked her if she knew what she was coming to do. She said yes – because she signed the contract. For her, because I know it was laziness, I allowed her to call her family to send her air ticket back but she ran away.
And have any of your clients been a victim of social injustice abroad?
Not that I know of. I have handled all their complains to the best of my ability.
Can you provide us with at least 10 contacts of some of your clients who can testify to their treatment in Kuwait?
Yes, I can, but I will do that to you personally. I would not like their names or numbers to be published except they give you that right. I will mix theirs with numbers of family members you can also call. And some that came back from Kuwait who still wish to go back there. (We note here that John Egyawan actually provided us with a handful of phone numbers for both Kuwait and Cameroon to call for further investigations.)
You are now under investigation by Cameroonian authorities, can you vouch that your dealings in this business have been very clean and according to the laws?
Very clean. I even fired my administrator because of bad dealings in my back. I have fired most of my agents because they tell lies and charge too much fees from people. My administrator and some of the agents working for me decided to recruit people in my name and then sent them out through another Agency in Kuwait. I only came to know when one of my younger brothers told me and when one girl returned from Kuwait and came to our office to ask for a 550,000 FRS she was charged. Come to find out she was processed through my administrator behind my back and she did not travel through my channel. We made that known to her clearly and she understood. The authorities will only see clean business. And they will see that we care about the girls we send over there.
Are you suing CRTV as we're learning?
No!
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Christ appears in your life right here, right now: one nanosecond after you believe and confess that Jesus is Lord.
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The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
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Posted by: Ofege Ntemfac <ntemfacnchwete@gmail.com>
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