My daughter is trapped in the UAE: what families can do
If your daughter, sister or niece went to Dubai or somewhere else in the UAE for a job, and she has stopped calling, sounds frightened, or keeps telling you everything is fine in a way you no longer believe, she may have been trafficked. You can help her get home. Email Stop Trafficking Africa at info@stoptraffickingafrica.org with whatever you know, and be careful who else you tell until you have spoken to us.
I wrote this page for families, from what we learned bringing Nigerian and Kenyan women home from the UAE. One of those rescues started with an email from a younger sister at home.
Signs that something is wrong
Most families we met did not know. One woman’s parents spent eight months believing their daughter had a well-paid sales job in Dubai. She had been trafficked for sexual exploitation, and they only learned the truth when she phoned them after escaping.
These are the things we saw in our cases.
She has stopped calling, or calls from a different phone
In 2020 we knew of an apartment in Dubai where the madam had taken the women’s smartphones. They were given basic phones for “work”, with no internet and no overseas calls. A sudden silence, or calls only from a number you do not recognise, can mean her phone has been taken.
Everything is wonderful, and nothing adds up
Women who are trapped often post pictures of parties, clothes and gold on WhatsApp and social media. They are ashamed, and they want to reassure the people at home. We wrote about this in how victims of human trafficking can become part of the problem. If the job she described never seems to come up, or the pictures do not match what she earns, ask gently.
She talks about a debt, or about fear for the family
The women we helped were held by a “debt” for travel, accommodation and visas, of between $5,000 and $10,000, which grew with fines. Many were also told that juju or a curse would harm them and their families if they left. Some women in Dubai refused to leave for exactly that reason. If she says she cannot come home until she has paid, or that coming home would put you in danger, take it seriously.
What to do first
Write down what you know
Before you contact anyone, gather what you have: the city she went to, when she left, the job she was promised, who arranged it, the phone numbers and social media accounts she has used, and any copy of her passport or visa. One woman we helped took a photocopy of her visa with her when she escaped. Do not worry if you have very little. Send what you have.
Contact us
Email info@stoptraffickingafrica.org, or use our contact page. Tell us how to reach you, and whether it is safe for us to try to contact her directly.
This is how it worked for a Kenyan woman trafficked to the UAE in 2020. She had escaped and was hiding in Dubai with no money for her visa fines or her flight, and her family could not afford them either. Her youngest sister came across our story on Instagram and emailed us. We had a video call with the sisters to check the facts, then contacted the woman in Dubai. Three days later she landed in Nairobi and her sisters met her at the airport. We tell the whole story in the remarkable luck of a Kenyan woman.
We check every case carefully before we act, because we have to be sure we are helping the person we think we are helping. Expect us to ask questions.
Be careful who you tell
Traffickers recruit through people the family trusts. In our cases it was usually a friend of a friend, and sometimes a pastor, an aunt or a friend of the family. The person who arranged her job may be close to you, and may report back to the people holding her. Until you have spoken to us, do not confront the agent, and do not share what you know with people who were involved in her travel.
Paying the “debt” will not free her
The debt is how she is held, not a loan. In the cases we saw, almost nobody ever paid it off, because fines and charges kept being added. The UAE government says employers pay recruitment costs under UAE labour law. We set out the warning signs in fake job offers in Dubai.
If you can speak to her
Let her decide what to tell you. The women we helped carried a great deal of shame. One felt foolish for having been tricked so easily, by a friend of a friend. What she needs to hear from you is that it is not her fault and that you want her home.
Her phone may be checked. If you send her our page on how to get help getting home from Dubai or the UAE, tell her to open it in a private browser window. That page explains, in her words, why we ask women not to go to the police first, how to get home without a passport, and which shelters in the UAE can help.
Who can help
Stop Trafficking Africa
Email info@stoptraffickingafrica.org. When we repatriated women in 2020 we worked with shelters and the Nigerian Consulate in the UAE, and with NAPTIP in Nigeria.
NAPTIP
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons is Nigeria’s anti-trafficking agency. In 2020, evidence from one of the women we brought home helped NAPTIP take a Nigerian madam and her husband into custody. We describe how we worked with them in liaising with NAPTIP.
- Telephone: +234 703 0000 203
- Email: info@naptip.gov.ng
Idia Renaissance
A non-governmental, non-profit organisation that helps victims of sex trafficking resettle in Nigeria.
- Telephone: +234 805 612 8927
- Email: support@idia-renaissance.org
- Website: idia-renaissance.org
Pathfinders Justice Initiative
A non-governmental, non-profit organisation that assists victims of sex trafficking in Edo State.
- Telephone: +234 817 612 3228
- Website: pathfindersji.org
In the UAE
The EWA’A shelters, the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children and the Nigerian Consulate in Dubai are listed, with their numbers, on our resources page for Nigerian women trafficked to Dubai.
Money for the flight and the fines
Most families cannot find the money. The Kenyan sisters could barely afford food. Another woman’s uncle took an emergency loan of £300 for her airfare from the village cooperative bank, and she came home owing interest.
Stop Trafficking Africa was crowdfunded by the public in the UK to bring trafficked women home. Our funds for repatriation to Nigeria are for genuine victims of trafficking, and each case is decided on its merits. Over the years donations have paid for flights, overstay fines, accommodation, food and phones. If you are reading this and want to help a family in this position, a donation helps bring someone home.
When she comes home
The women we repatriated were met in Lagos by the Joint Border Task Force and taken to a NAPTIP shelter for medical screening and counselling before they went home to their families. Plan for things not going smoothly. One woman was meant to be met at Abuja airport and nobody came, so make sure she has a family phone number and a way to reach you when she lands.
Coming home is hard. In my experience many women return carrying shame and fear, and some tell nobody what happened. Their parents are often shocked. One woman found being reunited with her sick mother painful, even though she was overjoyed to be home. Another wanted only to put the whole thing behind her and start an apprenticeship. Give her time, do not press for details, and do not let anyone shame her.
Think about her sisters and friends as well. Traffickers recruit through families, churches and friends, so the risk does not end when she is home. The Kenyan woman’s advice to anyone offered a job abroad was not to trust anyone, not even friends or relatives. Our page on lucrative jobs for Nigerians in the UAE explains how the recruitment works.
All contact details on this page come from our resources page. If a number does not work, email us and we will help you find the right one.
