Sri Lanka sex slaves in Oman - Suspected kingpin remanded

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka’s government promised parliament on Saturday that it would investigate revelations by News 1st of a major sex slave trade in which Sri Lankan women are being sold into slavery in Oman.

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told the house that a special team was dispatched to look into the complaints of the sex slave ring in Oman, in order to take swift action. "The President has paid special attention to this situation. This is a national issue and as result of the steps taken, the relevent groups have been arrested," the PM said.

News 1st has been closely following this story for over a week and exclusively revealing the sordid facts surrounding this shame on our nation.

Parliamentarian Hector Appuhami, of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party, said: "Sirasa (News 1st) has been reporting over several days regarding Sri Lankan women being sold in Oman. I urge that a proposal be submitted to the house immediately to take swift action against those responsible. Their actions are similar to murder."

State Minister of Foreign Employment Jagath Pushpakumara quickly responded that action would be taken.

Meanwhile the suspected kingpin behind the 90 Sri Lankan girls sold as sex slaves in Oman was remanded on Saturday (19), after he was arrested at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport on arrival from Dubai.

The 44-year-old suspect, a resident of Dehiwala, was arrested on Friday (18) night. He was produced before the Negombo Magistrate on Saturday and remanded until November 24. The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment said he was charged under suspicion that he was running a human trafficking ring from an office located in Maradana.

There is much confusion over who the mastermind was behind the sex slavery operation. The suspect in custody has denied the allegations and some of the victims also cast doubt on the charges levelled against him by police.

"There are 20 women who were brought here. If you ask them, they will speak the truth. They are here as well. I didn't visit their homes. But they are here to stand up for my innocence. You must ask them. It is better if they explain the situation. Please ask them," the suspect said, when questioned by journalists.

Nineteen women who travelled overseas with the suspect under tourist visas recently, arrived in Sri Lanka with him on Friday. They were also in court as victims and witnesses. "These allegations are false. You can check us. Release him," said one of the women.

"He is innocent. Please release him. We went there in October and he used his money to bring us back. We arrived yesterday," said another victim.

The suspect’s attorney, Ajith Pathirana, said "There could be women who are suffering there. The person who was arrested bears no responsibility for that. The court will provide justice."

Meanwhile, an official at Sri Lanka’s embassy in Oman, whom victims allege was involved in auctioning Sri Lanka women for sex, is yet to be arrested. The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment said steps have been taken to suspend him from service and bring him back to Sri Lanka.

The women who arrived from Oman provided statements to the Police Special Investigation Unit in Narahenpita on Saturday. "After I went to the Airport, a driver came and put us into his van and collected our passports. Then he took us to a room. There were others from other countries. The room was full. There were 11 Sri Lankans inside the room. They asked us why we are there. We got scared, wondering why they are asking us that question," said Mangala Vinodani.

A Sri Lankan couple who helped to bring back some of the women told News 1st that government officials are involved in the sex slavery ring. The couple in Sri Lanka had been contacted from Oman by one of the women who was known to them.

"Agencies, sub-agencies and brokers have operated this in a manner in which they will not be obstructed by the law. On the surface, it seems that uneducated poor people are going abroad for jobs. But that is not what is happening. We provided information today. We will see what will happen,” said Dushyanth Weeraman, who took steps to bring the women back to Sri Lanka together with Stephanie Siriwardhana.

“The embassy's response is not positive. I have the recordings of them speaking to me. I handed them over to authorities. Since the day I said I have recordings of these women trapped at houses, they stopped answering my calls. Even today, embassy officials are not answering my calls. I have sent them messages via WhatsApp," Weeraman added.

"They are not registered in the SLBFE to work in Oman, only in the UAE. So if they go into Oman it is actually illegal. So they become criminals. Once we explained this to the ladies, we have a voice recording where all of them are saying they don't want to go to Oman and to please save them. This is a huge network. We found out that it is actually a system that is very hard to trace,” said Siriwardhana.

“Because these ladies are first told by their families that they can get jobs. But the ladies are not aware that he is just a broker. They think he is an agent. The broker then takes them to a sub agency and gets all the paperwork done. They are registered in the SLBFE through the actual agency who sends the money to the broker. The broker asks the ladies to go and pay the travel agency and get the tickets. This ticket is the one way ticket to Abu Dhabi. The return is the dummy ticket. And that return is from Oman. So it's two seperate tickets. They are very smart. They have loopholes in the law to trap these women so that it is very difficult to trace them," said Siriwardhana.

Ruling party MP Dullas Alahaperuma told the house of action being taken. "This is not about the Foreign Employment Bureau. Those who may have gone on visit visas are under the care

of the embassy and the charges being made are against the embassy there. Now the question of whether our foreign service is engaged in human trafficking has been raised. We need to find an answer to that question," he said.

Another incident, revealing the depth of this criminal operation, was reported from Batticaloa today. Hasanar Fathima Zaheera, from Paleinagar, Batticaloa went to Oman on January 6 for a job opportunity. A mother of two, Fathima went overseas using a visit visa, leaving her children in the care of her parents.

Using Whatsapp, she informed her parents that she was not being paid for her work. "I am in Oman. I don't get a salary. They brought us to some locations. Please save me, bring me back. It is difficult to stay here," she cried.

Fathima's mother pleaded for help to bring her daughter back home. At the time the News 1st journalist visited her house, the family was able to phone their daughter. She had informed her family that she is currently at a location belonging to a foreign employment agency in Oman with 15 other women.

https://english.newsfirst.lk/2022/11/9/sri-lankan-women-sold-for-sex-in-oman-cid-probing-human-smuggling-ring

https://english.newsfirst.lk/2022/11/16/sri-lankan-women-auctioned-in-oman-cid-probing-sex-trafficking-ring

https://english.newsfirst.lk/2022/11/17/sex-trafficking-90-sri-lankan-women-given-refuge-at-embassy-in-oman

https://english.newsfirst.lk/2022/11/19/strict-legal-action-against-anyone-linked-to-human-trafficking-pm