Anyone scrolling down the feed of any popular Arab hashtag on Twitter is bound to come across ‘ads’ offering domestic helpers up for “sale” or “relinquishment.”  

The phenomenon exists in many countries across the Arab world and has reportedly come to be known as the “black market of domestic workers”. 

Thousands of tweets circulate on the platform every day, advertising the “sale” of human beings, using the words “maid for relinquishment.” 

Given that most countries in the Arab world use the kafala system to govern migrant workers, many of these ads aren’t illegal and people freely circulate them via social media hashtags. 

Some have even launched entire Twitter accounts aimed at sharing the latest “listings.” 

Here are a few examples of daily ads that circulates on Twitter on stepfeed.