BANGKOK and DUBAI: Five Thai women forced into illegal sex work in Bahrain have returned home, police confirmed to Bikyamasr.com on Monday. Police Lt. Col. Chusak Apaipak of the anti-human trafficking division and president of Pavena Foundation for Children and Women said that they were part of a group of 21 Thai women who had been promised work in the small Gulf kingdom, but were then forced into working as sex workers before being forced to be sex employees. A mother of one the young women reported what was happening to the foundation, which then investigated and intervened to remove the women from the situation. The foundation then contacted the Thai embassy in Bahrain to coordinate with local police in rescuing the victims. Of the 21 victims, 12 were rescued from the Arabia Hotel and the rest from Exhibition Plaza. Two people were arrested on human trafficking charges. Dutdao Yarana, 27, was arrested on charges of sending Thai girls to Bahrain where they would work as sex workers in the Gulf region. Police told Bikyamasr.com in a statement that they have charged her “with human trafficking by the combination of three or more people for other people's sexual gratification and the combination of engaging to provide, lure or draw other people into prostitution." The case had been ongoing, police officials said, adding that they had received numerous reports of women being conned into heading to Bahrain to work in spas, but were in fact being taken to work as sex workers in the country. “We are watching this closely and working with the Thai government to understand and investigate these charges from our side in Bahrain," a Bahrain foreign ministry official told Bikyamasr.com on Tuesday. “We will take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of women coming to work in Bahrain." It comes on the heels of increased worries that Thai women are being forced into sex slavery across the world. A recent report from Bikyamasr.com highlighted the rise of the global sex trade, which one Thai woman in Norway said saw her forced to be a sex worker in the Northern European country.
