After being held in the UAE, the women were put on flights to Damascus in groups of two or three. The women who were not quickly sold were subjected to increasing violence by the Syrian brokers. Several women reported being pressured by embassy staff members to return to the Syrian households they’ve escaped from. “I ran away because my employer tried to rape me, and it made me too nervous [to stay],” she said. A widow, Tawaging had come to the UAE for work to provide a future for her children.

Source: Washington Post January 24, 2021 20:47 UTC