Mired in debt, the mother of three left to work as part of the Gulf’s kafala labour system. She was last heard … More
Author: katiemcque84
I'm an journalist, based in Dubai.
The Washington Post: The Philippines repatriates dozens of women trafficked to Syria after report about abuses
By Katie McQue July 8, 2021 DUBAI — The Philippine government says it has repatriated all 55 Filipina women who had … More
The Washington Post: Instagram fuels rise in black-market sales of maids into Persian Gulf servitude
May 5, 2021 DUBAI — The advent of Instagram in recent years has helped create an international black market for … More
The Guardian: ‘They left us to die’: UK’s Afghan aid staff in hiding from Taliban
Evacuation of employees, not contractors, ‘splitting hairs’, says HRW, warning of days left to save lives Afghan employees who worked … More
The Guardian: ‘Monsters at the door’: migrant workers trapped in UN Afghan compound
Security contractors among hundreds from the Philippines, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka stuck without clear plans for evacuation When Taliban fighters started … More
The Guardian: Alone in Oman: Covid worsens abuse for trafficked women
Women from Sierra Leone tricked into servitude find themselves sold on under Gulf’s kafala system Isha knew she was in trouble when … More
The Washington Post: Sold into Syrian servitude, Filipina workers tell of abuse, rape and imprisonment
By Katie McQue Jan. 25, 2021 at 12:43 a.m. GMT+4 DUBAI — Josephine Tawaging was being bundled off to the airport … More
The Washington Post: Dubai seemed to have the coronavirus licked. Then it flung open its doors.
By Katie McQue Jan. 26, 2021 at 6:39 p.m. GMT+4 DUBAI — After a 12-hour shift in the Old Souk one … More
The Guardian: ‘What about justice?’: Chagos Islanders pin their hopes on Biden
Decades after the US took over the territory for a military base, families separated and forced to leave their homes … More
The Telegraph: ‘I want to leave but I’m scared’: Pandemic increases risk of violence for Gulf’s domestic workers
Lockdown measures, put in place to stem the spread of the virus, have put already vulnerable domestic maids under more … More
