Silicon Valley's Online Slave Market – full documentary – BBC News Arabic | BBC Africa Eye

In the Gulf, women, employed as domestic workers, are being sold online, via apps provided by Google and Apple.

It’s been called an online slave market.

BBC News Arabic goes undercover in Kuwaitto expose this shocking and disturbing online trade.

It’s an unregulated black market deprivingwomen and children of their basic human rights, leaving them at risk of exploitation and abuse.

All made possible by the Silicon Valley techgiants.

What they are doing is illegal.

If Google, Apple, Facebook or any other companyis promoting apps like these, hosting apps like these they are promoting an online slave market.

In Kuwait, 90% of households employ a domesticworker – that’s one for every two Kuwaiti citizens.

The government of Kuwait passed a new lawin 2015, giving domestic workers more rights.

Together we are stronger.

And imposing stricter regulations on thismulti-billion dollar industry.

But it’s generated a lot of controversy.

These new laws have pushed many to turn toa booming new industry, where domestic workers are bought and sold online.

All you need is a Google or Apple smartphone.

Ann Abunda is the founder of Sandigan.

An organisation that fights for the welfareand rights of domestic workers in Kuwait.

Our BBC team pose as a husband and wife looking to buy a domestic worker.

For their safety we cannot reveal their identities.

We download an app called 4Sale, the mostpopular commodity app in Kuwait, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Amongst cars, lawnmowers, and TVs, there’sa dedicated section where you can buy a domestic worker.

Our undercover team get ready to meet theseller Our female undercover reporter stays insidewith the domestic worker.

This policeman was knowingly breaking thelaw.

He was trying to sell us his domestic worker, he had confiscated her passport and didn't give her a day off.

All of which is illegal in Kuwait.

Over the course of a week, our undercoverteam spoke to 57 users of 4Sale.

It has an inbuilt feature that lets you filterby race, violating Kuwaiti law and international law.

The women cost between $2, 500 and $5000 US dollars (or £2, 000 and £4, 000).

Under Kuwait’s domestic worker law it isillegal not to give your domestic worker a day off per week.

It’s also illegal for the employer to keephold of their domestic worker’s passport.

But it’s not only happening in Kuwait, and4Sale is not the only app being used.

In Saudi Arabia we found hundreds of womenbeing sold on Haraj, another popular commodity app.

And on Facebook-owned Instagram we foundhundreds more.

Many sellers used racist and discriminatorylanguage as part of their sales pitch.

And in most cases, the women had no knowledgethey were being advertised online, and then sold.

Since 2010, Ann’s organisation, Sandigan, has rescued thousands of women from abusive households.

In Kuwait it’s illegal for a domestic workerto run away from their employer.

Ann was never charged with a crime.

And since being released from prison she’sdedicated her life to helping other vulnerable domestic workers in Kuwait.

Under the “Kafala” system, domestic workersare brought into the country by agencies and then officially registered with the government.

Potential employers pay the agencies a feeand become the official sponsor of the domestic worker.

Under the “Kafala” system, a domesticworker cannot change or quit her job, nor leave the country without her sponsor’spermission.

Apps like 4Sale, Haraj and Instagram enableemployers to sell the sponsorship of their domestic workers to other employers, for aprofit.

This bypasses the agencies and creates anunregulated black market that leaves women more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

A new ad appears on 4sale, an African domesticworker for $3, 800 US Dollars.

Our BBC undercover team arrange to meet theseller.

Nothing can prepare them for what happensnext.

We are shocked to find this woman offeringto sell us a child.

The young girl seems withdrawn and confused.

By employing a domestic worker under the ageof 21, this woman is breaking Kuwaiti law, and could face up to six months in prison.

She had also confiscated the girl’s passport, didn’t allow her any time off, or to leave the house alone, all of which are illegal.

This is the quintessential example of modernslavery.

Here we see a child being sold and tradedlike chattel, like a piece of property.

Urmila Bhoola is the UN special Rapporteuron contemporary forms of slavery.

We see coercion and control being exercisedby the employer over this very vulnerable child.

What they are doing is illegal.

It is not only in violation of national Kuwaitilaw.

It is a violation of international human rightslaw and labour standards.

We take our video of the young girl to Ann.

Ann starts an investigation to see if shecan contact the 16-year-old girl, who, to protect her identity, we will call ‘Fatou’.

Hello, hello sir.

She alerts the Guinean Embassy to see whatthey can do.

The embassy needs her full name in order tomake inquiries.

Ann asks our BBC undercover team if we cantry to persuade the seller to give us Fatou’s passport details.

The passport reveals her surname to be ‘Bongono, ’and her place of birth Conakry, the capital city of Guinea.

Now that Ann has Fatou’s passport she goesback to the Guinean Embassy.

She’s avoiding going directly to the Kuwaitiauthorities for fear that they could arrest Fatou for being in Kuwait illegally.

We head to Guinea to see what the police cando to help track down Fatou’s family.

They don’t have any record of her goingto Kuwait, but they introduce us to Jacques, a policeman who has the same surname as Fatou.

Jacques decides to take time off his officialduties as a policeman to look for Fatou’s family and see if they are aware of her situation.

He starts the search among the Bongono communityin Conakry.

Jacques continues his search amongst the Bongonocommunity in Conakry, but no one recognises her.

Hundreds of underage girls are traffickedfrom Guinea each year.

It’s a lucrative industry for traffickers, and a last resort for families trying to escape poverty.

We arrange to meet a trafficker to find outhow a young girl like Fatou could end up in Kuwait.

He agrees to talk to us as long as we concealhis identity.

As we’re filming, he spots two girls whohave recently returned from Kuwait.

See this one too? There was nothing good there.

We arrange to meet Nana, Esther and another girl, Biba away from the watchful eyes of the traffickers.

Like Fatou, Biba, Nana and Esther were allunderage when they went to work in Kuwait.

Biba, Nana and Esther met in prison, afterfleeing abusive employers.

The three girls were bailed out by their families.

But it’s estimated there are hundreds ofdomestic workers languishing in prisons in Kuwait.

We also show them the 4Sale app.

Their experiences of being moved multiple times between employers without any choice bear the signs of being bought and sold using the apps.

The majority of migrant domestic workers, women workers, are extremely vulnerable to exploitation in modern slavery.

They are in a strange environment, generallyunfamiliar with the language, not allowed to communicate with their peers and live inisolation often with the employer.

Here we see an example of how digital technologyis used negatively to violate their fundamental human rights and to cause harm.

Google, Apple and Facebook all claim thatthey prohibit modern slavery and human trafficking on their platforms.

Google’s Policy Against Modern Slavery, states that they are comitted to eliminating modern slavery in all its forms.

Facebook’s own community standards saythey do not allow organisations or individuals involved in human trafficking on their platforms.

And Apple’s App Store review guidelinessay that any discriminatory content including references to religion, race, gender or ethnicorigin are banned.

But we found thousands of domestic workersbeing illegally sold using discriminatory language through hashtags used on Instagramand other apps hosted by Google and Apple in violation of their own guidelines, andinternational law.

Back in Kuwait, Ann is desperately tryingto contact Fatou.

Despite sending the Guinean Embassy her passportdetails, they haven’t taken any action.

Ann’s colleague doesn’t want to appearon camera.

Now that Fatou’s been sold on, there’sno way of locating her other than going to the Kuwaiti government.

It’s a move that Ann has been avoiding, as it often results in the arrest of the domestic worker.

In Guinea, Jacques decides to expand his searchfor Fatou’s family to the remote forest regions of the country where the Bongonofamily come from.

It’s a 600 km drive from the capital.

We arrive in Mongo, a small market town inGueckedou, where many people are Bongonos.

Jacques hopes someone here will know Fatou’sfamily.

Word spreads that there is a girl missing, and the room quickly fills with people.

Back in Kuwait, Ann’s search for Fatou hasalso hit a dead end.

With no other options we take our video ofFatou to the Kuwaiti authorities to see if they can help find her.

Nasser al-Mousawi is Head of the DomesticWorkers Office.

It’s his job to manage complaints and disputesbetween domestic workers and their employers.

When issues arise, Nasser calls in employersand their domestic workers for questioning.

Taking money for the domestic workers, justto transfer their residency.

Actually it has been going on for a long timein Kuwait.

May al-Tararwah is a lawyer at Social WorkSociety, an organisation in Kuwait that supports domestic workers.

I think that the lady is not aware of thisbeing a crime.

She’s not aware of it.

So, she did it because she felt it’s normalbecause she’s old fashioned and that’s how they think.

Ten days later, the Kuwaiti authorities contact Ann.

There is good news.

They have found Fatou.

Ann arranges to meet Fatou at the state-runshelter for domestic workers.

A government official is present and we’renot allowed to film their conversation.

There are over 200 domestic workers in thisshelter.

It’s intended as a temporary place for themto stay while they’re fighting court battles or awaiting deportation.

An hour later Ann returns.

Fatou told Ann she’d been in Kuwait fornine months and worked for three households.

But during that time, she had only receivedtwo months salary.

Two days later, Fatou was deported back toGuinea.

Kuwait is one of the countries that has byfar one of the most liberal sets of laws in the region protecting domestic workers.

Under Kuwaiti law it is illegal to advertise, sell or enslave a domestic worker.

But despite this legal protection we see adomestic worker and a child domestic worker being sold in flagrant violation of law.

It leaves us wondering about the extent ofimplementation of the laws that are meant to protect workers.

And whether in fact any employers are prosecutedfor their violations of law.

As yet, Kuwait has not introduced any newregulations to tackle the online market in domestic workers.

The policeman and the woman who tried to sellus Fatou did not provide us with a statement and no legal action has been taken againstthem.

The Kuwaiti government declined comment furtheron Fatou’s case.

Fatou is back in Conakry.

Her uncle and grandmother can’t afford totake care of her so she’s living with an adopted family.

Fatou didn't want to show her face on camera, but she wants her story to be heard.

Businesses have a fundamental responsibilitymorally, ethically and legally to make sure that under national law and internationallaw these apps are removed and they are no longer available to the market.

If Google, Apple, Facebook or any other companiesare hosting apps like these they have to be held accountable.

What they are doing is promoting an onlineslave market.

The online slave market is still booming.

And there are still thousands of domesticworkers being bought and sold on Instagram, Haraj, and other apps available on GooglePlay and the Apple App Store.

Unless governments enforce their own lawsand the Silicon Valley tech giants apply stricter regulations on their users, this online tradewill continue, leaving many women exposed to exploitation and abuse.

Following our investigation, 4Sale, the appwhich was used to sell Fatou, removed its domestic workers section and gave us thisstatement: Facebook, which owns Instagram, told us: But we found hundreds of posts on Instagram, using similar hashtags, being used to sell domestic workers.

Haraj, the commodity app used in Saudi Arabia, did not provide us with a statement.

Google told the BBC: And Apple said:.