16 October 2009 / REUTERS, MUSCAT
Oman has sentenced 11 people to seven years in jail for involvement in a human trafficking attempt, a newspaper reported on Thursday, citing the head of the Gulf state's police force.
Thirteen people, Omanis and Syrians, were suspected of being part of an attempt to exploit a group of women who arrived in Oman on transit visas from Bahrain, Oman Observer reported Lt. Gen. Malik al-Maamari as saying. Those convicted “brought women to Oman as their wives using fake marriage certificates,” Maamari, inspector-general of police and customs, told the paper. Two of the suspects have been acquitted, he said. Human rights groups say many guest workers in Gulf Arab states face abuse, including delayed payments and poor living conditions and in many cases employers confiscate their passports. Foreigners comprise about a quarter of Oman's 3 million population. The sultanate has launched a website to help combat human trafficking and a hotline for people to report abuses, the paper said. It passed a human trafficking law in November 2003 after criticism from top Western ally, the United States, and human rights groups.
