Pakistani women are being lured out of Australia by their husbands on what they believe are family holidays, only to be abandoned overseas without their passports or a way home, a leading women’s safety advocate has warned.
The warning comes after two men were charged over separate alleged exit trafficking offences within two days of each other last week.
Muhammad Bilal Khan, 35, from Sydney, was charged with exit trafficking after allegedly convincing his wife to travel to Pakistan for a holiday earlier this year, before withholding her passport and abandoning her in the country.
A day later, the Australian Federal Police announced that another Pakistani man had been charged after allegedly attempting to force a woman and her two young children to leave Australia through Melbourne Airport in June.
Police allege the man threatened the woman in an attempt to force her to travel to Pakistan.
Yasmin Khan who heads the Bangle Foundation, a volunteer service which supports south Asian women facing domestic abuse, said she’s heard these type of allegations far too often, with many women being shipped ‘back home’ to act as slaves.
‘We’ve got a lady in India at the moment where they went to pilgrimage and on the way back was told to call in and see their parents. And now she’s stuck there and she can’t get home – and he’s back in Sydney enjoying life,’ Ms Khan told the Daily Mail.
‘I’ve got another woman with four children whose husband is trying to send her overseas to live in his parents’ place and she says there’s not a thing she can do – she can’t drive, she can’t speak the language, she’s got no money.
‘He said his parents are getting old, so they need somebody in the house to look after it – and there you have five servants coming from Australia.’
Pakistani women are being lured out of Australia by their husbands under the guise of family holidays, only to be abandoned overseas with no passports and no way home
Womens safety advocate Yasmin Khan said she’s seen Pakistani and Indian women be exit trafficked out of Australia by their husbands, sometimes to be ‘servants’ for elderly in-laws
A Pakistani national, who lives in Melbourne, was arrested last week after he allegedly attempted to exit traffic a woman and her two young children from Australia
While Ms Khan said the offence can happen to individuals from any background or community, she said the Queensland-based Bangle Foundation has repeatedly seen Pakistani and Indian women suffer this ordeal.
‘You’re coming from a culture that says, “Don’t talk about this outside of the family. Don’t air our dirty laundry”,’ she said.
‘It’s the culture, not the religion. In south Asia, there’s a mixture of Sikh, Islam and Hindu religions, and a lot of that Hindu influence is still around, these old entrenched customs.
‘But for Muslim people, they adopt this culture, which says women should be submissive, because they’ve been living in those lands for centuries.
‘We can sit here in Australia with a Western education and a feminist outlook and say, “I’m stronger than that, I understand that”, but they don’t have exposure to that, they don’t have women over there championing themselves on Pakistani or Indian TV.’
Ms Khan said some men also use exit trafficking as a ‘last resort’ if there’s been a break down in the relationship with their wife.
‘There may be a separation and now all of a sudden, the woman can take half of the property,’ she said.
‘She can claim finances, superannuation, insurance and that is also a reason why a lot of men do this is because they think that the family justice system is skewed towards women.’
In 2021, a Sydney man was the first person in Australia to be convicted of exit trafficking after he was caught on CCTV threatening a woman and her child onto a flight to India from Sydney
Lina Garcia Daza, who leads the Australian Red Cross’ Support for Trafficked People Program, said the service has seen a 140 per cent increase in exit trafficking referrals from 2024
She now warns women who fear they may be trafficked out of Australia to always carry their passports and those of their children, and to make copies of them.
‘You’ve got to look out for your own safety – and it’s not against thieves and murderers in the street, but your own family, your own husband. This is the tragedy of it all,’ she said.
Ms Khan’s comments come as reports of exit trafficking out of Australia hit an all-time high, with the AFP investigating 420 reports of human trafficking in the 2024-25 financial year alone.
These included 75 reports of exit trafficking, up from 35 in the previous financial year, with 64 per cent of the allegations involving a family member or intimate partner of the perpetrator.
Of those reports, 24 involved victims aged under 18.
‘We believe the increase in reports is just the tip of the iceberg and shows that more Australians are attuned to the indicators of human trafficking and are comfortable reporting to the authorities. However, we believe there are more cases out there,’ an AFP spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
‘Human trafficking does not discriminate, and victims could come from any age, gender, culture, religion or socioeconomic group.
‘Some people may be at a higher risk of becoming a victim due to vulnerabilities such as poor socioeconomic background, language barriers, unregulated visa status, and a lack of awareness or understanding of Australian laws.’
The AFP believes the increase in reports is ‘just the tip of the iceberg’
Lina Garcia Daza, who leads the Australian Red Cross’ Support for Trafficked People Program, said the service has already received 36 referrals this year for people who’ve been exit trafficked – a 140 per cent increase from 2024.
‘In the history of the program, people have been trafficked to a range of countries, particularly in the Middle East, South East Asia and Western Africa,’ Ms Daza said.
‘Exit trafficking can occur across a range of countries and regions, depending on the circumstances of the individual and the purpose of the trafficking. But it may be associated situations like false marriage, family violence and coercive control.’
Ms Daza said the program, which offers financial assistance, accommodation and referrals for legal, migration and medical support to people experiencing modern slavery, has seen women ‘lose control of the outside world’ after they’d been trafficked.
‘Don’t convince the person to not to travel, because that’s not always possible, with the context of the family,’ she advised.
‘Help them identify the numbers of the Australian consulate and the embassy, before their departure, so they have that handy. From what we’ve seen, people lose the ability to have connection to the internet.
‘Referral pathways are very critical because these people may only have one opportunity to seek help or disclose what is happening to them.’
She added: ‘We all have a responsibility to educate ourselves on how modern slavery happens in Australia because the reality is is that it does happen, it’s just hidden in plain sight.’
If you think you might be experiencing modern slavery, including exit trafficking, or could be at risk, call the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on 131 237 from Australia. Try to call before you leave Australia. It will be a lot harder to help once you’re overseas.
If an Australian needs urgent consular help, they can call the 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre at +61 2 6261 3305 from overseas or 1300 555 135 in Australia.
Victims and victim-survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery can access support regardless of whether they choose to participate in a criminal investigation.
