- Hotel manager arrested
- The Crime Intelligence Unit neutralizes this case of exploitation
On Friday May 17, the Crime Intelligence Unit, under the supervision of Assistant Superintendent Mooniaruth, Central Barracks, arrested a hotel manager in Trianon. He is charged with human trafficking and is in detention until May 27, the day of his next appearance. Baguiston R., 20 years old, and Vino Elidin A., 23 years old, Malagasy workers found there, recounted their ordeals to the police. They will be repatriated.
The Central Criminal Investigation Department (CCID), through the Trafficking in Human Unit, is investigating a human trafficking network targeting Malagasy nationals. A 23-year-old Malagasy national revealed a case of human trafficking to a police team, following an intervention by the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU).
To Assistant Superintendent Golaup's men, he told that he arrived in Mauritius with a tourist visa on March 25, 2024. At the beginning of April, he went, in the company of a Malagasy friend , to a residence, in Quatre-Bornes, to find employment. There, he met the hotel manager and the latter offered him a job as a cleaner.
He allegedly offered him a salary of Rs 20,000. The hotel manager asked him to occupy a room in the hotel, for practical reasons. In addition to his remuneration, his employer allegedly offered him meals and accommodation.
The complainant also said that Leckraj Poran, 30, assured him that he would take care of his procedures to obtain a work permit. The Malagasy man gave him his passport. When he started working, his employer allegedly asked him to be a security guard. He allegedly asked her to sleep on a sofa at the reception. “He told me to work at reception at night and I had to sleep on a sofa afterwards,” the Malagasy man told police.
He and his friend would not have had days off and would have taken on various roles. They provided reception services at the hotel and then they were night watchmen or even cleaners. On certain occasions, they were called upon to act as waiters in the hotel restaurant.
Passports
The Malagasy told the police that he only received Rs 10,000 as salary. The missing Rs 10,000 had been presented by the employer as a deduction for accommodation and food. He was not allowed a dinner. “We worked from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and we slept on a sofa,” explained the plaintiffs. Their passports were held by their employers against their will. The police will investigate the crime of “Concealing Documents”. “It’s a common practice when people carry out such exploitation,” confide sources close to the investigation.
“We have violated our fundamental rights,” the Malagasy people told the police.
Concealing Documents and Human Trafficking
The police investigation focuses on the crimes: “Concealing Documents” and “Human Trafficking”. In a report by the United States Department published in June 2023 on human trafficking in the Indian Ocean region, Mauritius was scratched. It had been included in Tier 2 Category countries. These are countries whose government was not making efforts to achieve the minimum required level.
Human Trafficking in Person Unit
According to the US Department report from June 2023, cases of human trafficking continue in Mauritius and the authorities take no sanctions. The report notes gaps in police investigations and prosecutions of those involved in human trafficking. Since then, the Central Barracks have set up the Human Trafficking in Person Unit, under the aegis of the Central Criminal Investigation Department. For practical reasons, the unit works closely with the intelligence services and the Passport and Immigration Office.
