JEDDAH — The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) recorded 68 cases of human trafficking last year, Al-Watan reported.
Secretary general of the society's anti-human trafficking committee Badr Bajaber said: “In these cases there were 50 victims, all children and women.
“There are many forms of human trafficking such as child labor.
Children are exploited and used to perform labor without getting any monetary compensation for their efforts.”
Bajaber added that forced labor is not just restricted to children, claiming there were many housemaids and children being smuggled into the country to perform uncompensated labor.
“The type of labor these victims perform include begging in the streets and public and commercial centers, being sexually exploited and prostitution,” said Bajaber.
The NSHR has taken on the responsibility of tracking down gangs smuggling children and then sending them into the streets to beg.
Bajaber said: “These gangs can be organizations inside or outside the Kingdom.
“This business is mostly based outside of the Kingdom and has internal contacts in the main cities. It is indeed a business as they exploit these people for a quick profit.”
The committee has set up a center and a hotline that receives reports of human trafficking in eight languages. Bajaber said: “Our hotline is open to victims, sponsors, or members of the general public and it is not restricted to issues concerning women and children only.
“There are many drivers who were also smuggled into the country and working with no compensation or neglected by their sponsors.”
The committee also distributed pamphlets containing statistics and valuable information on human trafficking in the Kingdom.
These pamphlets are available in Saudi embassies abroad and at the airports so expatriates can read about the practice and know their full rights.
Lawyer Rayan Mufti said the penalties for exploiting people could reach up to SR1 million in fines and up to 15 years imprisonment in addition to the confiscation of money or equipment used in the crime.
Mufti said: “I demand an anti-beggary office in Jeddah to proactively prevent children and women from begging in the streets.
“These beggars are purposely being beaten and mutilated by the gangs that brought them to play on people's sympathy. It is just a tactic to gain more money.”
