{"id":7874,"date":"2017-06-10T19:18:07","date_gmt":"2017-06-10T17:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=7874"},"modified":"2017-06-10T19:18:07","modified_gmt":"2017-06-10T17:18:07","slug":"nepalese-women-trafficked-to-syria-and-forced-to-work-as-maids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2017\/06\/nepalese-women-trafficked-to-syria-and-forced-to-work-as-maids\/","title":{"rendered":"Nepalese women trafficked to Syria and forced to work as maids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n

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Gyanu Reshmi Magar, 25, was trafficked to Syria from Nepal. \u2018All I did was work and sleep. I didn\u2019t leave the house for seven months.\u2019 Photograph: Pete Pattisson<\/p><\/div>\n

By\u00a0Pete Pattisson<\/a><\/p>\n

While millions are fleeing the brutal conflict in Syria<\/a>, hundreds of Nepalese women are being trafficked to the war-torn country and forced to work as domestic maids. The women, who are duped into travelling to Damascus, often arrive in the country with no idea they are being sent to a war zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know anything about Syria<\/a>. I didn\u2019t realise there was war going on \u2026 The agent told me it was like America,\u201d said Gyanu Reshmi Magar, 25, who was promised a job in Dubai but found herself forced into domestic service in the Syrian capital.<\/p>\n

Magar, who was trafficked to Syria through India and then Oman and Dubai, begged to be sent back to Nepal<\/a> only to be told, \u201cWe bought you for $6,000 [\u00a34,000]. You can\u2019t go home unless you pay back that money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trade in women from Nepal to Syria is thriving, according to a Nepalese diplomat. \u201cThere\u2019s a heavy flow of women to Damascus. Last year we estimated there were about 300 Nepalese women in Syria and since then the number has increased \u2026 It\u2019s a big, big number, maybe five to six hundred,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very easy [for agencies in Damascus] to get hold of girls \u2026 They place an order and then get the girls to come to Dubai \u2026 The girls don\u2019t know they are going to Damascus,\u201d explained the diplomat. \u201cWhen they arrive, they are shocked to find themselves in Syria.\u201d He added that Nepalese women are also being taken to other conflict zones, including Iraq and parts of north Africa.<\/p>\n

Nepal does not have an embassy in Syria or Iraq, but a spokesperson from the Nepalese embassy in Pakistan said there were about 3,000 Nepalese women working in Kurdistan and Iraq, adding that it was difficult to ascertain how many were working there willingly and how many had been deceived into going.<\/p>\n

Soon after Magar arrived in Damascus, she was taken to work for a family in the capital. \u201cI was completely cut off from the world. All I did was work and sleep \u2026 I wasn\u2019t able to contact anyone. I didn\u2019t leave the house for seven months,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

At first Magar had no idea she was in a war zone. \u201cWhen I asked the family about the bombs, they just said it was the army training,\u201d she said. It was only when she got access to the house\u2019s Wi-Fi that she discovered the truth. \u201cI found out about the war through the internet. There were so many loud sounds \u2026 I was afraid, but I couldn\u2019t do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Internet access also proved to be Magar\u2019s escape route. She managed to contact her family in Nepal through Facebook, and eventually Nepal\u2019s embassy in Egypt arranged her rescue.<\/p>\n

After 17 months, Magar returned to Nepal virtually empty-handed. \u201cI was supposed to be paid $160 a month, but I was only paid for six months. When I left I asked [my employer] about my salary,\u201d said Magar. \u201cShe took $20 from her purse and threw it at me. Then she spat in my face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nisha Baniya of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions, who helped to secure Magar\u2019s release, says the Nepal government must do more to help. \u201cSince there is no consulate in Syria or Iraq, these women have no one to contact if they get into trouble,\u201d said Baniya. \u201cThe government says they do not have sufficient financial resources, but they should at least send a labour attache to these countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durpada Sapkota, a senior civil servant at Nepal\u2019s ministry of foreign affairs, says about 25 Nepalese domestic workers have contacted the ministry asking to be rescued, but that it is difficult to track them down as they have not travelled through formal channels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Nepal government has now appointed a Syrian national to work with the embassy in Egypt that deals with the cases of Nepalese in trouble,\u201d said Sapkota. \u201cWe are also looking into cases brought to us by families who are trying to rescue their daughters.\u201d<\/p>\n

One case taken to the ministry recently was that of Sunita Magar, 23. Magar, a mother of two young children, paid 80,000 Nepalese rupees (\u00a3500) for what she thought was a job in Kuwait; her agent tricked her into going to Syria instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cSyria was a nightmare for me,\u201d said Magar, who worked there as a domestic worker for 18 months. \u201cI don\u2019t want to think about those days. It was really tough. I had to work almost 20 hours a day. I wasn\u2019t given enough food to eat and didn\u2019t even get time to sleep. I was beaten time and again. I wasn\u2019t paid a single rupee. I went abroad for [my children\u2019s] future but got nothing. Even my husband left me and is now married to another woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunita Magar was eventually rescued by a Nepalese man who helped raise enough money to buy her freedom. Now back in Nepal, Magar has a warning for other women looking to work abroad. \u201cI can\u2019t say don\u2019t go, but do go through the proper channels by doing all the necessary paperwork \u2026 so that if you get in trouble there will be someone to rescue you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a message echoed by Gyanu Magar. \u201cThe promises of all the agents are fake. I have brought nothing back [from abroad]. I only got punished there \u2026 I don\u2019t want anyone to go abroad for work, [but if you do] make sure you know everything before you go,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes when I wake up, I\u2019m afraid I\u2019m still in Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The Guardian By\u00a0Pete Pattisson While millions are fleeing the brutal conflict in Syria, hundreds of Nepalese women are being trafficked to the war-torn country and forced to work as domestic maids. The women, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,90,85,43,11,178,55,49,10],"tags":[715,716,713,471],"class_list":["post-7874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-citizens-and-civil-society","category-editor-selection","category-human-rights","category-human-rights-online-library","category-issues","category-labor_rights","category-poverty","category-womens-rights","category-world","tag-human-trafficking","tag-middle-east","tag-nepal","tag-syria","country-asia","country-world","Documents-statements-multimedia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7874"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8056,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7874\/revisions\/8056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}