Sikh women forced into slavery and sexually exploited in Oman

Financially vulnerable Sikh women are being lured from their villages in Punjab to Oman with the promise of a secure job, only to become trapped in sexual exploitation and slavery, according to widespread reports.

There has been a noticeable spurt in Punjabi women (including many Sikhs) being trafficked to Oman post-covid, since individuals’ financial situations have deteriorated. The promise of domestic work abroad – often for countries such as Singapore and Dubai – has seen these women leave their homes and families following promises from travel agents and other middlemen.

As recently highlighted by respected panthic (Sikh community/path focused) outlet @SavingPunjab, these women are now often instead finding themselves sold into slavery in Oman, with their passports taken away from them and no way to contact anyone for help.

According to reports from Indian media coming through this summer, one woman travelled to Oman to work as a maid, but upon her arrival her employer discovered that she was Sikh and demanded her immediate removal. When she attempted to return back to Punjab the agent who had secured her the job said she had to pay 150,000 rupees (about £1,400), money she did not have. She was then forced to stay trapped in a room alongside more than 30 other girls where ‘potential buyers’ would come to evaluate them for “employment”, despite the fact that that the women were evidently distressed.

Another woman, 37, found that one of her children required expensive ear surgery and treatment for a heart condition, so she left her home in Goraya city expecting domestic employment in Oman. Instead, she was beaten and forced into sexual exploitation, bearing the scars of being tortured with a hot iron rod to force her to comply with sex work.

Those who did carry out domestic work found that the conditions were deplorable. One woman, a vegetarian, was only served rice and non-vegetarian food and was forced to work from 5am to 11pm without breaks. They faced constant beatings if they complained about their conditions and were trapped without their passports and contact with their friends and families.

The exploitation and enslavement of Indian migrant workers in Arab countries is a well- known problem, where they are forced to carry out menial work for little to no pay in slave-like conditions. This issue of the sex trafficking of Punjabi women is a more recent progression of this context and another way in which the financial vulnerabilities of those in Punjab is being played upon.

One group of Punjabi women were eventually able to escape earlier this year and sought refuge in a Gurdwara in Oman where they received help from Granthi Bhai Maninder Singh. Nearly 70 women had escaped to this gurdwara, most from Punjab but some from Nepal and other states in India too.

NGO The Sun Foundation have so far rescued 24 of these women and identified dozens more who they plan to bring back to their families in Punjab. See more on The Sun Foundation here.

The cases in Oman speak to a larger problem where the financial insecurity and vulnerability of people in Punjab is being preyed upon. Earlier this year in January, five members of an international human trafficking racket were arrested for luring Punjabi youth to Mexico, Indonesia and Singapore on the pretext of sending them to the US. Once there, they were kidnapped and tortured in order to extort money from their families.

Generally, news sources in India warn people to be wary of the agents who promise jobs in the Gulf and elsewhere, but some of the women in Oman have stated that they were not educated enough to have heard of these warnings. Those most desperate in Punjab and beyond in India are neither given adequate support or protection from Indian authorities, being trafficked to Oman and their plight is also given little attention.

Speaking on the issue, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said:

“There is an issue of mass flight of Punjabis from Punjab, and a lot of that is down to the lack of rights the minority Sikh community has in India.

“This is not just about individual rights, which are often trampled on directly by police, but it’s also about worker rights as farmers, opportunities for further learning and employment. Now we see this is impacting Sikh women who are leaving their homes desperately seeking work.

“This is a problem that will not go away and thus Sikh orgs across the world will definitely be paying more attention to it after a rise in reports of this issue through the year.”

Media inquiries – Har-Rai@SikhPA.com.