Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Brunei.htm
Brunei is a destination country for men and women
trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and commercial sexual
exploitation. Brunei is mainly a destination country for men and women
recruited from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Pakistan, India,
Bangladesh, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Thailand for domestic
or low-skilled labor. A limited number of the 88,000 foreign workers in
Brunei face poor labor conditions that amount to involuntary servitude. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check out a later country report here or a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Brunei
Darussalam. Some of these links may
lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even
false. No attempt has been made to
verify their authenticity or to validate their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of
particular interest to you. Would you
like to write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include possible precursors of trafficking such as poverty. There is a lot to the subject
of Trafficking. Scan other countries
as well. Draw comparisons between
activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. HELP for Victims Police
Department ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** No Human
Trafficking Cases In Brunei: US State Department Rosli Abidin
Yahya, Borneo Bulletin, Bandar Seri Begawan , March
11, 2006 www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-143195075/brunei-no-human-trafficking.html [accessed 1
September 2011] Since February last
year, the Labour Department has brought cases
directly against employers who did not pay their workers. Formerly, such
cases were brought by the Attorney General's Office and took much longer to
prosecute. In March last year a military, officer was tined approximately
$4,000 (B$6,668) or a jail sentence in default for not paying his maid for
more than 23 months. Further mentioned
in the annual report was the government's intervention in labour
disputes. Supporting this was when in September approximately 300 garment
factory workers protested publicly over unpaid salaries of up to 6 months. Employers have been
warned that they would be prosecuted if they defaulted on workers' salary
payments or paid them late. In September the
government filed charges for non-payment of wages against the board of
directors of the factory that employed the garment workers; among the accused
was a former cabinet minister. ***
ARCHIVES *** Bangladesh asks
Brunei to deport suspects in human trafficking ring Malay Mail, 5
October 2019 [accessed 12 October
2019] Bangladesh's top
diplomat in Brunei said he had received repeated complaints from workers who
had paid thousands of US dollars to be taken to the wealthy South-east Asian
nation on the promise of jobs that never materialised. “They keep bringing more people even
though there are no jobs,” Bangladesh's High Commissioner to Brunei Mahmud
Hussain told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Bangladeshis were
being charged about US$4,000 by agents who either failed to get them any work
at all or made them work for very low pay, Hussain said. Hannan Sikdar, 22, sold his family's land to raise the US$3,500
that he paid a broker in Bangladesh for a job in Brunei. “I was told that I would earn so much that
I would be able to send 25,000 takas ($300) back home every month,” Sikdar said from Brunei by phone. After reaching Brunei, Sikdar
went to work for a week, then was told not to come
again. The agent told him he would have to find a new job himself and
threatened to have him deported unless he handed over a portion of his
monthly salary. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Brunei U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/brunei/
[accessed 13 May
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Some of the
approximately 100,000 foreign migrant workers in the country faced
involuntary servitude, debt bondage, nonpayment of
wages, passport confiscation, abusive employers, or confinement to the home.
Although it is illegal for employers to withhold wages, some employers,
notably of domestic and construction workers, did so
to recoup labor broker or recruitment fees or to compel continued service. Although
the government forbade wage deductions by employers to repay in-country
agencies or sponsors and mandated that employees receive their full salaries,
many migrant workers arrived in debt bondage to actors outside the country.
Bangladeshi media reports indicated that widespread fraud in work visa
issuance made many migrant workers–particularly an estimated 20,000
Bangladeshi nationals working mostly in the construction industry–vulnerable
to exploitation and trafficking. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Various laws
prohibit the employment of children younger than 16. Parental consent and
approval by the Labor Commission are required in order for those younger than
18 to work. Female workers younger than 18 may not work at night or on
offshore oil platforms. The Department of
Labor, which is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, effectively enforced
child labor laws. Penalties for child labor violations include a fine,
imprisonment, or both, and were commensurate with those for analogous serious
crimes, such as kidnapping. . Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/brunei/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 24 April
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? There is no
private-sector minimum wage in Brunei. Labor inspections are frequent, but
are often aimed at identifying undocumented migrant workers. Migrants who
come to Brunei to serve as household workers are often coerced into involuntary
servitude or debt bondage, and can be subject to varying forms of abuse.
Workers who overstay visas are regularly imprisoned and, in some cases,
caned. According to the US
State Department’s 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report, Brunei has made
little progress in fighting human trafficking over the previous year. The
State Department noted that no prosecutions took place during the reporting
period, while victims are at risk of prosecution and deportation. The
government operates a shelter for women and boys who are trafficked, but
adult males do not receive shelter or services. .Philippine
Embassy In Brunei Saves Two Filipinas From Human Trafficking News Release,
Philippine Consulate General in New York, 08 September 2004 www.pcgny.net/news/news287.htm [accessed 24 January
2011] Secretary of
Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo commended the Philippine Embassy in
Brunei Darussalam for its collaborative efforts with the Philippine Embassy
in Kuala Lumpur and the Brunei Immigration authorities that led to the rescue
of two Filipina workers who were victims of human trafficking and forced to
become sex workers. The two Filipinas were later
repatriated to the Philippines through the efforts of the Embassy. In her report to
the DFA, Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Virginia H. Benavidez said that the
official statements issued by the women at the Philippine Embassy in Brunei
showed that they were beguiled by a certain Loida
Jose with business address in Kamias, Quezon City, to work as waitresses in
Brunei. Supposedly these two victims would earn P40,000 each. Instead they
discovered upon arrival that they were to work as guest relations officers
(GROs) at the Fun Pub and Crossroads Club, which are reputed to be sex dens
in Labuan. “By the time we took custody of the two Filipina victims,
they have been working as prostitutes for more than a month,” Ambassador
Benavidez reported. Stateless And Vulnerable To Human Trafficking In Thailand [PDF] Vital Voices Global Partnership,
June 2007 www.humantrafficking.org/uploads/publications/Vital_Voices_Stateless_and_Vulnerable_to_Human_Trafficking_in_Thailand.pdf [accessed 21 July
2013] [page 28] V RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY
- In order to reduce the impact of statelessness on non-citizens, opening up
access to education and healthcare services to children and permitting some
forms of legitimate labor to those awaiting proof of citizenship would
eliminate the link between statelessness and human trafficking. In Brunei,
many ethnic Chinese do not have the right to citizenship. As in Thailand,
without access to citizenship these stateless people in Brunei do not have
access to subsidized healthcare services and other government-provided
services. While the stateless individuals suffer from some of the same
problems faced in Thailand, Brunei offers free education to "stateless
persons and permanent residents."146 By providing education, Brunei
relieves one of the problems for its stateless people that make them
vulnerable to exploitation. Human Trafficking
Cases Increased Sun Star, 2008/01/08
– Source:
www.sunstar.com.ph/static/gen/2008/01/08/news/human.trafficking.cases.increased.html traffickingproject.blogspot.com/2008/03/trafficking-challenges-in-philippines.html [accessed 19 January
2011] Sheila, Valerie and
Bridget (not their real names), who hailed from poor families here, have set
their sights to as far as Manila, Brunei,
and Japan for employment to alleviate the plight of their respective
families. However, instead of working
as domestic helpers, they ended up as prostitutes. Their recruiters vanished
like thin smokes in the air. Coalition Against
Trafficking in Women - Brunei Coalition Against
Trafficking in Women www.catwinternational.org/factbook/Brunei.php [accessed 24 January
2011] CASE - Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei,
brother to the Sultan of Brunei, was sued for US$90 million by a former Miss
USA. Shannon Marketic claimed that she and six
other women were held as virtual prisoners for 32 days and told they were
expected to engage in sexual activity at all-night parties. A U.S. District
Judge ruled that Prince Jefri was protected under
the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act and cannot be sued in the United States. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 3 October 2003 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/bruneidarussalam2003.htm [accessed 24 January
2011] [14] The Committee
is concerned that insufficient efforts have been made to involve civil
society in the full implementation of the Convention and in the reporting
process [18] The Committee
is concerned at the existing lack of systematic and comprehensive collection
of disaggregated data for all areas covered by the Convention and in relation
to all groups of children in order to monitor and evaluate progress achieved
and assess the impact of policies adopted with respect to children. [20] The Committee
is aware of the measures undertaken to promote widespread awareness of the
principles and provisions of the Convention and welcomes the translation of
the Convention into Malay, but is of the opinion that these measures are not
sufficient and need to be strengthened by providing the necessary
resources. In this respect, the
Committee is concerned at the lack of a systematic plan to introduce training
and raise awareness among professional groups working for and with children. [41] The Committee
welcomes the enactment of the Islamic Adoption of the Children’s
Order 2001 and Adoption of Children Order 2001, which both came into
force on 26 March 2001 but remains concerned that the State
party has not ratified the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children
and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption. [57] The Committee
recommends that the State party ratify the Optional Protocols to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography, and on the involvement of children in
armed conflict. The Protection Project - Brunei Darussalam [DOC] The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS),
The Johns Hopkins University www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/brunei.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Asian women end
up as sex slaves in Brunei Darussalam after being falsely promised employment
as housemaids. For instance, the
Philippine Embassy there recently assisted in the repatriation of two
Filipina victims who were lured to Brunei Darussalam with false promises of
jobs as guest relations officers or restaurant helpers but were instead
forced into prostitution upon their arrival.
Indonesian babies are sold to buyers from Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia,
and other countries. Young people from
Brunei Darussalam and several other countries in southeastern Asia are
reportedly trafficked to Australia using student visas; in reality, however,
they rarely attend any classes but instead are forced by their traffickers to
sell drugs or to engage in prostitution. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 6 Civil Liberties: 5 Status: Not Free 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/brunei/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 24 April
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? 2 / 4 There is no
private-sector minimum wage in Brunei. Labor inspections are frequent, but
are often aimed at identifying undocumented migrant workers. Migrants who come
to Brunei to serve as household workers are often coerced into involuntary
servitude or debt bondage, and can be subject to varying forms of abuse.
Workers who overstay visas are regularly imprisoned and, in some cases,
caned. According to the US
State Department’s 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report, Brunei made its first
trafficking conviction in four years during the reporting period. However,
authorities still struggle to confront trafficking; for example, the report
cited instances in which trafficking victims, particularly foreign victims,
were themselves charged with crimes, or were fined. 2017 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 20 April 2018 www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2017/eap/277067.htm [accessed 17 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/brunei/ [accessed 25 June
2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Some of the
approximately 100,000 foreign migrant workers in the country faced
involuntary servitude, debt bondage, nonpayment of wages, passport
confiscation, abusive employers, and/or confinement to the home. Female
migrant workers, who comprised most of the domestic workers in the country,
were particularly vulnerable to forced labor. Although it is illegal for
employers to withhold wages from domestic workers, some employers, notably
domestic and construction workers, did so to recoup labor broker or
recruitment fees or to compel continued service by workers. Foreign workers
could take legal action against employers for nonpayment of wages, usually
done outside of court, and were often, but not always, successful. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61602.htm [accessed 7 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– The country has been a destination for a small number of persons trafficked
for sexual exploitation from China and within the region. There were very few
identifiable cases of trafficking, and the majority of women who entered the country
as sex workers were considered to have done so voluntarily. Immigration,
labor, and religious regulations that criminalize prostitution also served to
deter trafficking. There were reports of foreign household laborers who
worked under harsh conditions and whose freedom of movement was restricted. SECTION
6 WORKER RIGHTS
– [e] At least 100 thousand foreign persons worked in the country. There were
reports of foreign maids and other domestic workers who
worked exceptionally long hours, did not have a rest day, and had their
liberty severely restricted. There also were isolated reports of employers
who beat domestic employees or did not provide them with adequate food. The
government prosecuted some cases; employers found guilty of abuses typically
were fined and asked to compensate the victim. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - Brunei
Darussalam ", http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Brunei.htm, [accessed
<date>] |
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