“The Hidden Pipeline Trafficking Women Into Domestic Slavery In Iraq”

Maya Tamang rests on a bed in a shelter for survivors of human trafficking, the rays of the setting sun touching her face as she speaks of a dark time from this city in central Nepal.

She shares how her childhood dream of earning a lot of money turned into a nightmare after she accepted a job broker’s offer of employment in Dubai. In February 2023, she traveled there from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport on a visitor’s visa…

…unscrupulous job recruitment agencies are abusing Nepal’s “Free Visa, Free Ticket” policy to lure women with the promise of a legitimate job in a Gulf country before trafficking them to Iraq…

Magar says she was allowed to take another job in a hotel after her husband got a loan in Nepal so she could pay $4,000 of the debt, while promising to pay the rest. She now earns about $700 a month. Magar says she wants to keep working in Iraq until she has enough to pay off the loan too, since she has no idea how she would pay back all the money if she returns to Nepal…