False promises and forced labour

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Women lured to Bahrain with false promises of food service jobs were forced into nightclub work under threats and confinement.

The hotel’s owner and operations manager, convicted of exploiting them, has appealed his sentences, with the High Appeals Court delaying its decision.

One victim, an Arab woman, explained how she was offered a BD400-a-month job as a food server.

The arrangement came through someone she trusted in Bahrain.

But when she arrived in the country with other women, the hotel’s operations manager met them at the airport, took their passports against their wishes, and informed them they would be working in the hotel’s nightclub instead.

The woman described being forced to socialise with customers, dance late into the night, and push patrons to buy alcoholic drinks.

She said they were barred from leaving the premises, with guards constantly watching their movements.

After enduring long hours with no days off, she and another victim seized a chance to escape while visiting a nearby shop. A guard chased them, but they resisted and reached the police to report what had happened. Investigators uncovered a deliberate scheme led by the hotel’s owner.

He used his authority to direct the operations manager to bring in women under the guise of legitimate jobs, only to coerce them into nightclub work.