The fact was mentioned in a report on human trafficking released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.
The report highlighted that besides a Bahraini national, three Asians have been arrested on charges of human trafficking and some were serving jail terms.
Under-secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Head of the National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking, Abdullah Abdullateef, told a press conference that one case was discovered in 2008, while the other three were reported this year.
The first case mentioned in the report dated back to December 2008, when an Asian woman was accused of taking advantage of the plight of young Asian women. She forced them into prostitution after seizing their passports and lived off the money earned by the victims.
She was formally charged under the human trafficking law and sentenced to three and a half years in prison and a fine of BD5,000 followed by deportation after completion of jail term.
The official highlighted that all the victims were kept at the Dar Al Aman, a government-run shelter for abused women. In 2010, three cases involving one Bahraini national and two Asians are being investigated by courts who intend to try the people involved under the human trafficking law.
