Government is warning Malawian women to turn down job offers in Arab countries from unknown job agents, saying unsuspecting women are thrown into prostitution.

Secretary for Labour Patrick Kabambe said this after a consultant Trevor Kandoje released a report which shows that Malawian women are sexually abused in Kuwait, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.

“Government is working urgently on labour export… we are aware that some Malawians are abused and our embassies are working with the said governments to stop the malpractice,” he said.

Kabambe said Malawians should always be careful on job offers in the said countries.

He said there are some unscrupulous people who are taking advantage of the high unemployment rate to lure young women to go the Arab countries promising them decent jobs just to dump them in prostitution once they arrive in the Arab countries.

According to BBC reports, the employers of the prostitution ring snatch passports of unsuspecting women and are usually locked in houses where Arab men take turns to abuse them sexually.

The BBC says most of the agents are from West Africa, especially Nigeria.