Girl rescued from human traffickers

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dubai — The Dubai police have nabbed a five-member Vietnamese gang after rescuing a girl they kept in confinement.

According to Major-General Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police for Criminal Investigation, the police first learned of the gang after being informed by the Vietnamese embassy, which had received a distressed call from the victim’s mother.

The girl — identified as N.W. — came to Dubai on a visit visa to meet a friend, but was trapped by the gang, who tricked her into coming to an apartment to wait for her friend. Once there, they attempted to coerce her into prostitution. When she refused, she was beaten, verbally abused, and kept locked in the apartment for five days. On the fifth day of her confinement, she managed to secretly call her mother, which frightened the gang and compelled them to drop her at the airport.

Vietnamese arrested

dubai — The Dubai Police have arrested a gang of five Vietnamese nationals including a woman for human trafficking and safely returned a Vietnamese girl, who was kept under illegal confinement by the gang, to her home country.

Major-General Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commanderin-Chief of the Dubai Police for Criminal Investigation, said that the suspects were arrested in a record time after receiving information from the Vietnamese embassy.

Explaining the case details, Maj.Gen. Al Mansouri said the Dubai Police were informed about the gang by the embassy on June 26, after the mother of the victim made an SOS call from her home country.

The girl, NW, reached Dubai on a visit visa to meet her friend and fell into the trap of the gang, who pressurised her to work in flesh trade. Upon her refusal, she was beaten up and kept locked in an apartment for five days. Maj.-Gen. Al Mansouri said the gang threatened her that they would harm her if she didn’t obey them.

The girl, who arrived at the airport after a friend arranged her visa, was surprised that her friend was not waiting for her there as expected. However, when contacted over phone, the friend asked her to come to her flat in a taxi and gave description about the route. But when she reached the flat, it was found locked. A person of the same nationality told her that she has gone out on work and offered to host her till her friend returns.

She told police that she was so exhausted after the journey and accepted his offer. Once she entered the flat, she saw more compatriots in the apartment, who told her that she will have to work in prostitution. When she refused it, they physically assaulted and threatened her. She was kept under illegal confinement for five days. She said many women were seen in the apartment, working in prostitution.

Lt. Col. Rashid bin Dhaboai Al Falasi, Director of the Criminal Control Section of the General Department of Criminal Investigation, said after five days of detention, the victim took advantage of the opportunity when the accused were busy and managed to call her mother back in Vietnam, who called up the Vietnamese Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Based on the information received from the embassy, the police officials launched an investigation. In the meantime, the Rashidiya Police Station was informed by the Dubai Airport officials that a girl at the airport was in a state of shock and could only speak Vietnamese.

The police, including officials at the victim care department, moved to the airport and found the victim in a broken down state. They reassured the girl that she was safe and made her talk to her family, back in Vietnam.

Maj-Gen. Al Mansouri said the poice learnt from the victim that she was dropped at the airport by the gang at night as they got scared after knowing that she contacted her mother. The victim care department at the Rashidiya Police Station referred her to the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children and kept her there until the completion of the investigation.

Based on the information given by the victim, the police raided the flat of the gang in Al Rashidiya area and arrested the five suspects, said Al Mansouri.

The suspects are charged with human trafficking, said Lt. Col. Al Falasi, adding that the victim was allowed to travel after she gave a power of attorney to the embassy to pursue the case proceedings.

Reem Amiri, official at the victim care department, said the police made all efforts to calm down the victim and updated the Vietnamese embassy about the details of the case. The Vietnamese embassy officials thanked the Dubai Police for all the efforts that have been made to save the girl.

Maj. Gen. Al Mansouri, affirmed that the UAE has strict laws to combat human trafficking, and is one of the first countries that created a special law that includes severe penalties for the perpetrators of the crime. — amira@khaleejtimes.com