
The historical Arab slave trade, which began in the 7th century and lasted for than a millennium, brought millions of East Africans to the Persian Gulf to work as laborers, servants, and sex slaves. While it ended officially in the 19th century, something strikingly similar continues to the present day. Each year a global network of recruiters carries thousands of men and women from developing countries in East Asia and Africa to work as housemaids, waitresses, and construction workers. Paid a pittance for their work, often abused by their employers, denied basic rights, and housed in squalid compounds, these laborers…