Three stand trial for human trafficking in Dubai

Dubai - The victim, believed to be 17 years old, was issued a fake passport with an older age before she was forced to work as a prostitute.

Three Bangladeshi nationals have been accused of trafficking a minor girl and forcing her into prostitution, the Dubai Court of First Instance heard on Sunday.
The two men and a woman allegedly lured a teen and a 21-year-old woman into a maid's job before forcing her into prostitution when they arrived in Dubai.
The victim, believed to be 17 years old, was issued a fake passport with an older age before she was forced to work as a prostitute in a brothel in Naif, Dubai, for about 50 days.
With the help of one of her customers, she managed to call the police after one man agreed to lend her his phone.
Police raided the apartment on September 15 and arrested the defendants. The victims' passports and contraceptive pills were seized from the apartment.
The three face charges of running a brothel in Naif, sexually exploiting women in prostitution and facilitating prostitution.
The two men, aged 43 and 55, were additionally charged for raping their two victims and locking them up.
The hearing has been adjourned to January 15.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

How a bottle of water started a conversation I won't forget

Angel Tesorero
It was the first day of the UAE amnesty program. As expected, thousands of overstaying expats trooped in to the GDRFA (General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs) office in Al Aweer on August 1.
It was also the middle of summer. There were two huge tents that could accommodate up to 3,000 men and women (in separate tents), but people were also waiting outside, with papers under their arms, wiping sweat with handkerchiefs or towels.
That's how I met Francisco Pacheco. He approached me asking for directions. I forgot my reply but I was holding a bottle of water and I offered it to him.
Francisco was shy. He took the bottle of water and thanked me. I knew there had to a story behind this guy in a cap, wearing a black shirt and jeans, carrying a backpack and a transparent envelope that held an obviously worn-out passport.
I asked him about his case. His reply was curt. I only learned that he was 58 years old and came to Dubai in 1991.
He finished the water. It was just a small bottle so I told him to come inside the tent where there were several fridges filled with bottles of water. He took another bottle and we sat down.
I earned his trust and that's when he told me his story. His troubles began when the company he worked for in Jebel Ali closed down in 2010. Instead of going back to the Philippines, he went on a visa run to Kish Island in Iran and returned to Dubai on a visit visa to search for jobs. No one hired him. But he was still supporting his children who were in college, so he had no choice but to stay in Dubai and find a job.
Our conversation lasted for more than an hour and he shared how he missed his family who he hadn't seen for more than a decade. When he left the Philippines, he had three kids and now he already had five grandchildren.
Francisco was just one of the many people I spoke to. I interviewed several people that day, overwhelmed by their stories. Many I met have overstayed because they were not able to pay their debts, some lost jobs, others absconded after suffering abuse from their employers. In all these cases, instead of going back home, people opted to stay in the UAE because they felt that back home they may not be able to find suitable work.
I was also waiting for statistics - how many applied for amnesty on the first day, how much fines were waived by the authorities, how many would be repatriated, etc.
But news is not just about the who, what, where, when or how. It is also about telling stories and guiding the readers to connect with your stories.
I called Francisco the following day. He had got his repatriation papers and was finishing packing his things. And after 27 years of living and working in Dubai, he was taking back only clothes and a few belongings, everything that weighed a little over 30kg - that's like accumulating only 1kg of possessions each year!
He had only a couple of dirhams in his wallet and a small bag of dates and chocolates for his apo (grand kids). He had reconciled to going home broke. But that did not dampen his spirits as he marked the calendar on his wall and encircled August 11 - his date of travel back home to the Philippines to be with his family.
His story got published before he left Dubai. Some readers emailed me and asked for his contact details. One Filipina met him and gave him Dh1,000; one British expat also gave him cash. Staff at a Dubai-based company pooled their money and gave it to him.
Francsico did not go home empty-handed after all, and there was joy in his heart when he called me from the airport the day he left Dubai. I was also happy because I wrote a story that had impact. It had emotion because I lent my ear and allowed room for honesty and vulnerability in my story.
It was not over the top dramatic. Readers were able to connect emotionally. It moved them enough that they generously gifted him cash and other presents.
I reported how the amnesty program benefited thousands of people but I was happy that I did not just state the facts and figures. I focused on a specific person to tell a story and it all began with a small conversation after handing out a bottle of water.
angel@khaleejtimes.com
Angel doesn't let things get to him. His BP is the stuff of dreams

• UAE
• Dubai