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In mid-1997 hundreds of Indonesian women, most under twenty years old, were
in prostitution in Saudi Arabia. (Mien Sugandhi, Minister for Women’s Affairs
in Indonesia reports, "Hundreds of RI’s Women Believed To Work As Prostitutes
in Saudi Arabia," Kompas, 7 February 1997)
Official Response and Action
A crack-down on a prostitution ring in Saudi Arabia, into which Thai women
are trafficked, in being coordinated by Bangkok Member of Parliament and women's
and children's rights advocate Paveena Hongsakul. (Preecha Sa-Ardsorn, "Saudi
woman procurer surrenders before police," The Nation, 19 July 1998)
Thailand’s President Wan Muhammad Noor Matha said that Bangkok should make
it clear to Saudi officials that the Thai government wants justice in a case
in which nine Thai women were forced into prostitution in Saudi Arabia. Wan
Noor said he was confident the Saudi authorities would co-operate with their
Thai counterparts. ("Wan Noor urges Riyadh to punish wrongdoers," The Nation,
18 July 1998)
Case
The story of two Thai women:
Two Thai women forced trafficked to Saudi Arabia have come forward leading
to the surrender of their trafficker, another Thai woman named Suna Thianmanee.
Both women had contacted Suna in hopes of finding high paying work in Saudi
Arabia, but instead were forced into prostitution. The women were forced to
travel, in a tiny compartment below the truck's undercarriage or empty oil
tank of the vehicle tanker in the scorching sun, from one construction site
to another and to offer their sexual services.
Upon arriving in the Saudi capital, they were forced to share a five-metre-by-four-metre
room with seven other girls, one of whom was Suna's sister. They were told
that they would be engaged in prostitution, not restaurant helpers as promised,
if they wanted to live. One of the women said that all nine girls, including
herself and Suna's sister, had been wrongfully lured into the sex trade. Each
girl had to service four to ten customers a day. Suna would earn about 200
to 800 riyals (Baht 2,000-Baht 8000) per visit while the girls would get free
room and boarding and earn occasional tips. In five months, Suna was able
to expand her brothel by renting a two-story, three-bedroom house. Most customers
were Thai and Filipino workers and some Saudi citizens. (Preecha Sa-Ardsorn,
"Saudi woman procurer surrenders before police," The Nation, 19 July
1998)
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