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/Oman.htm
Oman is a transit
and destination country for men and women, primarily from India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia, most of whom migrate
willingly to Oman as domestic servants or low-skilled workers in the
country’s construction, agriculture, and service sectors. Some of them
subsequently face conditions indicative of involuntary servitude, such as
withholding of passports and other restrictions on movement, non-payment of
wages, long working hours without food or rest, threats, and physical or
sexual abuse. Unscrupulous labor recruitment agencies and their sub-agents at
the community level in South Asia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may
coerce or defraud workers into accepting work in Oman that turns out to be
exploitative and, in some instances, constitutes involuntary servitude. - U.S.
State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check
out a later country report here and possibly a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Oman. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt has been made to validate their
authenticity or to verify 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 precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. 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 Ministry of Manpower ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Arms Trade – Victoria Garcia,
Center for Defense Information CDI, February 13, 2004 www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?documentid=2068&programID=73&from_page=../friendlyversion/printversion.cfm [accessed 15
December 2010] BACKGROUND - While the U.S.
State Department has noted some improvements in the area of human rights, ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Oman 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/oman/
[accessed 20 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Some migrant
workers, employed as domestic workers or as low-skilled workers in the
construction, agriculture, and service sectors, faced working conditions
indicative of forced labor, including withholding of passports, restrictions
on movement, usurious recruitment fees, nonpayment of wages, long working
hours without food or rest, threats, and physical or sexual abuse. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT In 2019 the country
made a moderate advance in eliminating the worst forms of child labor, and
there is evidence that children in the country engaged in child labor,
including in fishing and selling items in kiosks. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/oman/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 4 May 2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Oman’s labor
policies put migrant workers at a severe disadvantage and effectively
encourage exploitation. Household workers, who are not covered by the labor
law, are especially at risk of abuse by employers. The government has pursued
an “Omanization” process to replace foreign workers
with native Omanis. Among other tactics, temporary visa bans for foreign
workers in various professions have been issued or extended since 2013.
Despite a 2008 antitrafficking law and some recent
efforts to step up enforcement, the authorities do not proactively identify
or protect human trafficking victims. 2018 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child
Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, US Dept of Labor www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings [accessed 20 January
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [Select Oman] In 2018, Oman made
a moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
The Sultan of Oman promulgated a new Penal Code that enhanced penalties
related to commercial sexual exploitation of children. The National Committee
for Combating Human Trafficking signed an agreement with the Oman Lawyers
association to allow attorneys to represent victims of human trafficking on a
pro bono basis. The Committee also launched and began implementing a new
National Action Plan for Combating Human Trafficking and conducted
awareness-raising activities. Although
research is limited, there is evidence that children in Oman engage in child
labor, including in fishing and selling items in kiosks. UN expert on human
trafficking calls on Oman to do more to help victims UN News Centre, 8
November 2006 www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20537#.VBCPYqNuVCM [accessed 10
September 2014] news.un.org/en/story/2006/11/198952-un-expert-human-trafficking-calls-oman-do-more-help-victims [accessed 4 May
2020] “Some of these
migrant workers are often lured in their country of origin by unscrupulous
recruiting agents with false promises of a certain job or certain working
conditions. More often than not they are shocked to find themselves in
exploitative situations upon arrival,” she said, adding that “casual labourers” are one of the most disadvantaged groups and
most open to abuse. child slavery –
petition Petition sponsored
by ipetiton At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 9 September
2011] 1. Please take
urgent action against human trafficking, especially young children between
the age of 2 to14 years who are being used as camel jockeys in 2. Ban under-age and
under-weight camel jockeys. The practice should be eliminated in all of the
countries listed. 3. Prohibit
unhygienic living conditions and purposely providing inadequate nutrition to
the jockeys. 4. Prohibit physical
and sexual abuse by the trainers. 5. Urge the
government to set and implement standards to improve living condition for the
jockeys. Slavery of Children
and women in Morteza Aminmansour,
Persian Journal, Jun 20, 2004 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 9
September 2011] Exact number of
victims is impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in UAE,
there has been increase in the number of teen-age girls in prostitution
(forced to work from Secretary-General
of League of Arab States Delivers Address United Nations Press
Release, Commission on Human Rights 58th session, 17 April 2002 www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/0/06BA120C4D4CC048C1256B9F00262A3D?opendocument [accessed 15 December
2010] ZAKARIYA AL-SA'DI (Oman) said from
the beginning of the 1970s, Oman had been giving particular attention to the
rights of the child. There was a clear political will to improve the status
of children and to address their needs and their development. Oman had always
acceded to international conventions on the rights of children. It was
inconceivable that children were not protected even in the twenty-first
century. It had been internationally recognized that the children of Oman,
being brought up in an Islamic country, were fortunate to have escaped
several of the scourges suffered by children in other countries.
International reports had proved that Oman had showed its commitment to
children. Oman's achievements had been noted and the improvements it had made
had been given international recognition. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) [DOC] UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 29 September 2006 www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/fa5a9fc611efa876c1257259004f990d/$FILE/G0645119.doc [accessed 15
December 2010] [65] While noting that
the domestic legislation prohibits forced child prostitution, manufacturing,
acquiring or distribution of pornographic materials, bondage and slave trade,
the Committee is concerned about the potential of the State party to be or
become a destination country of trafficking in children owing to the large
number of migrants in search of employment. It notes with concern the lack of
data and the lack of research on the prevalence of national and cross-border
trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography. Concern is also
expressed about the lack of a comprehensive procedure to identify children
who may be victims of trafficking and the absence of adequate recovery and
reintegration services for these victims. The Protection
Project – Oman [PDF] The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS),
The Johns Hopkins University www.protectionproject.org/country-reports/ [accessed 13 February
2019] A Human Rights
Report on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children FORMS OF TRAFFICKING
--
Many workers, both men and women, are lured to work in Oman from their
countries of citizenship by recruiting agents who promise them steady jobs
and good working conditions. Once in Oman, however, the workers often
discover they have signed fictitious contracts and find themselves in
exploitative conditions, such as commercial sexual exploitation or labor
exploitation on camel farms. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on trafficking in
persons, Sigma Huda, reported on issues of human rights violations in Oman
with regard to exploitation and maltreatment of migrant workers (especially “casual
laborers”) including physical
and emotional violence,
sleep deprivation, withholding of wages, restriction of movement,
confiscation and withholding of passports, and denial of basic communication
(e.g., telephone communication). Women from Eastern Europe, South Asia, North
Africa, and China are involved in prostitution, but it is unclear who of
those women, if any, are victims of trafficking; however, the International
Trade Union Confederation has reported on the use of women for commercial
sexual exploitation, trafficked from the People’s Republic of China, the
Philippines, Morocco, and Eastern Europe. A report by Organs Watch, an
organization based at the University of California, Berkeley, identified Oman
as one of the world’s major organ-importing countries, suggesting that the
international organ trade was a remnant of the inadequacy of many countries’
health care systems. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61696.htm [accessed 10
February 2020] TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons; however, trafficking crimes are prosecuted under the criminal code and those convicted face three to five years in prison. While one NGO reported unsubstantiated claims of evidence near the Buraimi Oasis that foreign children were trafficked to the country for training as camel jockeys, the local UNICEF representative concurred with the government's denial that foreign children were trafficked and employed as camel jockeys. According to a December 20 statement from the International Labor Organization, child camel jockeys were no longer an issue in the country. The government
operated a 24‑hour hot line to register complaints of potential victims
and also worked with foreign governments to prevent trafficking in persons. 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 - |
