Revealed: allegations of abuse and captivity without pay at UAE’s lucrative recruitment agencies

Migrant workers report having their phones and passports confiscated before being locked in a cramped room with other women. Photograph: Pavel Adashkevich/Shutterstock

As Nia scrambled to the top of a Dubai compound wall, she paused for a moment. Behind her were a group of fellow Kenyan women, also being held captive, who had helped her climb up. On the other side of the wall there was an expanse of busy streets in an unfamiliar land.

“Jump!” the women urged, “Go, go, go.” And she did.