There are an estimated 520,000 experiencing modern slavery and human trafficking in the Arab States (GSI 2018). The Arab States are made up of 11 countries including Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. In Syria, people are exploited in the country and Syrians are trafficked abroad. The ongoing conflict in Syria makes people extremely vulnerable to trafficking. Syrian children are reportedly vulnerable to forced early marriages, including to members of terrorist groups, which also often leads to commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour. Children displaced within the country also continue to be subjected to forced labour, particularly forced begging. Marie was recruited in Manila by an agency that promised her domestic work in Romania. After passing through airport security, she realized her flight was not bound for Romania, but Aleppo, Syria. On arrival, the receiving agency confiscated Marie’s mobile and assigned her to a family of 13. For 8 months, Marie lived in domestic servitude. She was verbally and physically abused. After suffering burns to her face inflicted by her employer, Marie was admitted to hospital. Despite death threats from her agency, Marie decided to run away. She managed to get to Lebanon and find protection at the Philippine Embassy in Beirut.

There are an estimated 10,000 people living in modern slavery in Hong Kong (GSI 2018). Approximately 370,000 foreign domestic workers, primarily from Indonesia and the Philippines, work in Hong Kong; some become victims of forced labour in the private homes in which they are employed. An NGO report released in 2016 estimated as many as one in six foreign domestic workers is a victim of labour exploitation. Employment agencies often charge job placement fees in excess of legal limits, and sometimes withhold identity documents, which may lead to situations of debt bondage of workers in Hong Kong. The accumulated debts sometimes amount to a significant portion of the worker’s first year salary. Some employers or employment agencies illegally withhold passports, employment contracts, or other possessions until the debt is paid. Some workers are required to work up to 17 hours per day, experience verbal, sexual or physical abuse in the home, and/or are not granted a legally required weekly day off.   UR, a 40-year-old woman trafficked from Jombang to Hong Kong (2010- ), noticed that the signature on her contract had been falsified:

There are an estimated 9000 people living in conditions of modern slavery in Oman (GSI 2018). It is a transit and destination country for men and women primarily from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines, most of whom migrate willingly as domestic servants or low-skilled workers in the country’s construction, agriculture and service sectors. Trafficked persons subsequently experience conditions of modern slavery such as the confiscation of passports, restrictions on movement, non-payment of wages, long working hours without rest and physical or sexual abuse.  *Maria was 23 when a recruitment agent approached her with the promise of a lucrative 500 dollar salary per month and benefits.

There are an estimated 4,000 people living in modern slavery in Qatar (GSI 2018). Qatar is a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labour and, to a much lesser extent, forced prostitution. Men and women from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and other countries voluntarily migrate to Qatar as unskilled laborers and domestic workers, often paying illegal and exorbitant fees to unscrupulous recruiters in the labour-sending countries, thereby increasing their vulnerability to debt bondage. Some workers subsequently face conditions indicative of involuntary servitude, to include restricted movement, payment withholding, passport confiscation, exit permit retention, and threats of deportation or abuse. Individuals in Qatar sell visas to migrants and occasionally demand regular payments, enabling migrant workers to work illegally and without legal recourse against their respective sponsors, although reportedly this trend is on the decline. Contrary to what she was promised in her contract, 26-year-old LL had to wake up at 03:30 and work all day without proper breaks until 21:30 or 22:00.

There are an estimated 4,000 people living in modern slavery in Qatar (GSI 2018). Qatar is a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labour and, to a much lesser extent, forced prostitution. Men and women from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and other countries voluntarily migrate to Qatar as unskilled laborers and domestic workers, often paying illegal and exorbitant fees to unscrupulous recruiters in the labour-sending countries, thereby increasing their vulnerability to debt bondage. Some workers subsequently face conditions indicative of involuntary servitude, to include restricted movement, payment withholding, passport confiscation, exit permit retention, and threats of deportation or abuse. Individuals in Qatar sell visas to migrants and occasionally demand regular payments, enabling migrant workers to work illegally and without legal recourse against their respective sponsors, although reportedly this trend is on the decline. Before AS left her home country she spoke to her employer directly - a friend of a woman who was employing a friend of AS in Qatar - who promised her payment of 800 riyals [US$220] a month and told her she would be given days off. But when she arrived her employer told her that she would only earn 730 riyals [US$200] a month.

Mauritania is one of the last countries in the world where people are still born into hereditary slavery, which means they are literally owned by other people, and forced to work for masters their entire lives. People in slavery come from the Haratine ethnic group, historically enslaved by White Moors. They can be bought and sold, or given as gifts, and face a lifetime of exploitation and abuse. Rape of female slaves is common and their children also become slaves. They are Muslims, and many believe that it is Allah’s wish for them to be enslaved because they are told that their paradise is bound to their Master. In reality, Islam dictates that a Muslim cannot enslave a fellow Muslim. Since 2007 slavery has been criminalised in Mauritania but the law is not enforced and the government is reluctant to acknowledge the existence of the problem.