Human traffickers jailed for three years

Abu Dhabi Police catch two men in a sting operation trying to sell a housemaid into prostitution.

ABU DHABI // Two men found guilty of human trafficking have been sentenced to three years in prison, according to the state news agency WAM. The two men, MAM and AM, were accused of selling a housemaid, who had earlier fled her sponsor, into prostitution In a sting operation, an Abu Dhabi police officer went undercover to buy the woman himself and caught the accused in the process of selling the maid. MAM and AM will be deported after they serve their sentences. Last month, the UAE released a report outlining its plans to stamp out human trafficking. The National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking said the country needed to implement tough penalties, increase support to victims and co-operate with an international network against the crime. Despite these efforts, the United States recently placed the UAE back on a watch list of countries with poor human trafficking records. The State Department this month placed the country on its tier-two watch list, along with 76 other countries including Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and India. The UAE had been removed from the list last year.