Peanut Gallery: It’s been less than 50 years since slavery was abolished in Oman. But it’s much easier to change laws, than it is to change attitudes… as the following article illustrates.
Human trafficking is just another form of de facto slavery. The living conditions can be horrible and the treatment of servants/workers even worse… and this is in Oman who are the relative “good guys” in the Gulf region.
To their credit, they allowed this article to be published – remember that Oman is an absolute monarchy. And they are beginning to acknowledge and address this issue.
But condescending, exploitative attitudes towards non-Arab expats are hard to change. They are built into the Arab/Islamic mindset which dominates the region.
Note: 100 Omani Rials are worth 260 American Dollars.
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She had arrived in Oman from a small town in a remote part of Ethiopia full of hope. Hope that she had secured a good job as a maid in a prosperous country and would be able to send money to her family back home. She believed this fortuitous break might herald some much-needed luck and that a brighter future now beckoned for her far away from the confines of her poverty-stricken African homeland.
Her lucky break was in fact being found still alive after being raped and violated by her sponsor and three of his friends and dumped like a piece of rubbish in the desert to die.
When some locals came across her, she was bleeding and barely conscious, having spentten days in the desert. Doctors said she only survived because of the unusual prolonged rainy conditions, another piece of luck.
Not having friends or family to turn to or any embassy to provide shelter, she was alone and helpless.
Without the kindness of strangers, she would have died. Even then, she was arrested and jailed for two months because her Omani sponsor had alerted police in the Interior that she was a ‘run-away’ or absconder.
The Peanut Gallery 