The Secret Slaves of the Middle East

Directed by Puk Damsgaard Andersen

How are unskilled workers being trapped and trafficked in the Middle East? Mary Joy Dao-Ay is a Filipino maid who used to be a domestic worker in Lebanon. She left her 3 children in the Philippines, planning to pay for their education by earning a higher salary working in the Middle East. Instead, she was forced to flee for her own safety, and got stuck in Lebanon seeking refuge at a shelter. THE SECRET SLAVES OF THE MIDDLE EAST is the story of Mary Joys’ desperate struggle for justice, in a country with no labour laws protecting foreign domestic workers, and where the special Arab Kafala System renders it impossible for an unskilled worker to leave the country or change their employer. It is the story of how poverty leads unprivileged women from developing countries to be deceived and trafficked into slavery.