Arabs take slavery to the heart of Europe

*  From Gates of Vienna:

 It is common knowledge that wherever Middle Eastern “royal” families travel, their retinue of slaves unpaid servants accompanies them. This is no secret to Western governments, who regularly tolerate such practices without the least demur.

Now, for some reason, the Brussels authorities have decided to crack down. It’s an intriguing story, more for what it doesn’t say than what it does.

Women ‘enslaved’ by Arab royals

By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels/ Telegraph

Police officers and officials from Belgium’s Labour Audit Authority raided the Conrad Hotel, the city’s most prestigious and the preferred choice of many national leaders during European Union summits, on Tuesday evening.

* Danish women held captive abroad P2

The operation was triggered by the apparent escape of a maid who was among 20 servants working for the widow of a senior royal figure from the United Arab Emirates and her four daughters who have rented the entire fourth floor of the hotel for the last year.

Several members of the royal party have been questioned, police said yesterday. No charges have been brought but the investigation continues.

“We are convinced that these 17 girls are victims of people trafficking,” said an official.

The servants, dubbed “slaves” in the Belgian media, allegedly had to be at the service of the Arab royals 24 hours a day and had their passport taken away on arrival in Belgium. The women were reportedly not allowed to leave the hotel and their monthly salaries were as low as £80 a month.

“We were not allowed to leave the hotel and we had to be at their disposal 24 hours a day,” claimed one young woman of Middle Eastern origin.

“We were not allowed to complain or to ask any questions. We just had to be there at their beck and call.”

Last week four maids from the Philippines allegedly attempted to escape from the hotel. Three were detained by the royal family’s security staff but the fourth woman managed to alert the Belgian police.

There was no response last night from the Brussels embassy of the UAE when it was contacted to comment on the case.

Most Belgian newspapers have described the case as “slavery right in the heart of Brussels”.

The chic and pricy Conrad Hotel, “where you can discover the luxury of being yourself”, is situated on the city’s Avenue Louise and surrounded by the most expensive shops in Brussels.

The price of a room begins at £260 and a hotel spokesman, who refused to comment on the raid, was unable to give the cost of renting an entire floor.

The hotel’s website boasts: “The largest, most sophisticated luxury hotel guestrooms in Brussels, an unrivalled guest service commitment and the unparalleled cuisine of our hotel restaurant all come together at the Conrad Brussels.”

The hotel is frequented by Europe’s royals and national leaders, including British Prime Ministers, during trips to Brussels and for EU summits.

In a separate case in Gevena involving a senior figure from the UAE, Sheikh Fallah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, the brother of the president has been found guilty and fined after using his belt to beat an American man who he thought had suggested he was gay.

 


Related Content

02.07.2008
 
In the wake of a Danish woman’s honour killing in Pakistan, crisis centres and the Foreign Ministry both say they are aware of many instances of women with Danish citizenship being held against their will in foreign countries
 
Following the killing a 31-year-old Danish woman in Pakistan allegedly over disgracing her family’s ‘honour’ just over a week ago, both cultural experts and the Foreign Ministry are warning that the case was not an isolated one.    

Uffe Wolffhechel, head of citizens’ services for the Foreign Ministry, said his office is routinely brought into cases where Danish women of immigrant background are forced to travel back to their families’ countries of origin – most often Muslim countries – and are never heard from again.

‘These kinds of situations are extremely difficult for us to prevent,’ Wolffhechel told Berlingske Tidende newspaper. ‘We naturally want to help Danish citizens in trouble, but the practical possibilities are very limited.’

The murder of Tahira Tabassum 13 days ago in Pakistan is believed to have been an ‘honour killing’. Tabassum was killed by her brother-in-law for what friends and family in Denmark claim was her inability to have more children and her refusal to obey her Pakistani family members who told her not to leave the house.

The woman’s Pakistani husband had lived in Denmark with her until three years ago, when she returned – possibly unwillingly – to Pakistan with her two young daughters. Danish police have arrested the husband for complicity in the killing.

But Farwha Nielsen, who works as a consultant to the National Organisation of Shelters for Battered Women and their Children, said Tabassum’s case is only ‘the tip of the iceberg’.

‘I have no doubt that there are many Danish women being held captive in other countries and who are being systematically raped and beaten,’ she said. ‘And although I have no specific figures for it, I also believe many of them have been victims of honour killings.’

Mohammed Rafiq, a Danish-Pakistani counsellor and author, agreed with Nielsen’s assessment.
‘It’s absolutely certain that there have been many such cases,’ said Rafiq. ‘I think if you were to look back through all the missing person files over the years there would be a lot where Danish women have disappeared abroad and not turned up again.’

Politicians and moderate Muslim groups are now urgíng the Justice Ministry to get more involved in stopping spouse kidnappings and honour killings of Danes abroad.

According to the news service of the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, IRIN, around 1900 women in Pakistan are killed each year by their husbands, brothers or fathers. (rc)

 

 

 

 

 

5 thoughts on “Arabs take slavery to the heart of Europe”

  2. Yeah Joe, it is not only deafending – it is sickening. The women who mostly would be speaking up against these atrocities are actually helping the muslims along by standing side by side with them shouting down, rioting, etc against those who do speak out.

    It is just sickening what is happening.

  3. It’s hard to argue against any unsavory practice that is acceptable in Islam because such acts (as in slavery) are only following the guidelines set by the prophet Allah. Child brides and beating of wives are also acceptable under Islam because Allah made it acceptable. Anyone who insists we much accept Islam into western culture is really advocating permission for slavery, polygamy, child exploitation and reducing females to second class citizens. Is that what we want to expose western culture to? Is this the goal of multi-culturalism?

  4. Lexcan is quite correct – any attempt to install muslim values into western society should be repelled. Incidentally, there is a very high liklihood that Madelaine McCann and several other children have been sold to Arabs. Yes, the Arabs do not quite consider that the moral behaviour of the vast majority of the west is quite up to the standards of the Koran. We should be doing a little more in the rape and pillage line, and if Pope Benedict passes a papal bull saying kill all non-believers, then Islam would have found a brother religion. I suggest you folks should read some of the horror stories that are now emerging re: Saudi treatment of maids. One 20 year old Phiilipina was raped by the Arab “men” in the family she worked for, she then fell pregnant, and was then executed by the authorities for having tempted the father and son of the famiily. Her picture and story can be found on the internet, both before and after she was murdered by these arab scum. The absolute and utter contempt that I have for Arab muslims can see realised when you see the anguish on her face after death.

  5. And, BTW, multiculturalism does not work. It has failed in Europe, it has failed in the UK, and it has not one solid success to date.

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