Five Filipina Detained By Agency Owner After Prospective Employer Returned Them

Five Filipina in Dubai were allegedly imprisoned by two businessmen and a woman for one month.

According to reports, the five women were sent to Dubai to work as domestic helpers but they were given visit visas to enter the country in August.

However, the Dubai Police was informed that a woman fell from the building as she tried to escape from the illegal detention on August 19. The woman used a rope of blankets to escape her captors but fell down resulting to a fractured hip.

The investigation was launched and authorities found out that the Filipina was detained in the flat of the building where she fell.

According to the investigation, the flat was owned by the agency who recruits domestic helpers and five women were locked in the flat for four weeks.

Police intercepted the owner of the agency who is an Egyptian businessman, his partner who is a Jordanian and a Filipina who works for them. They were accused of illegally confining the five women while assaulting, threatening and inflicting coercion on them.

It is said that the five women were rejected and their employers returned them, causing the three to detain and threaten the five Filipina while keeping them confined inside the premises of the agency.

All three pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance last Sunday.

The five Filipina demanded a compensation worth Dh21,000.

“I was brought here and was supposed to work on a trial period for a particular family… the employer sent me back to the agency and did not want to hire me as a housemaid. After that potential employer returned me, the Jordanian and Egyptian suspects slapped me and beat me. They kept me locked in the agency for weeks and did not allow me to go out or use the phone. My countrymen and I were only permitted to go to the kitchen of that flat [agency premises]… we were constantly assaulted and threatened. The suspects also threatened us and warned us against trying to run away or we will be harmed. We were confined for different periods… I was locked up around a month and other women were confined between two to three weeks. We agreed to make a rope of blankets by trying them together and climb ourselves out through the window… while climbing down, one of us fell down and got injured then police were called,” said one of the victim.