the hour, which is straight after this programme. woman sobs i will explain to you honestly what i know. she was raped. she was then forced to have an abortion. i just want to help her go home. i feel like i'm in prison. please, please, - please, madam, please. human trafficking is one of the most profitable businesses in the world. any africans would never go to this country. never. not oman.

then you are lost. shut up. i told the doctor... what you told to the doctor?! you—you crazy! i was angry. i was crying. this is more than slavery, that's what i think. we want our people back. how can you buy somebody else�*s freedom? woman sobbing i don't know what to do. i don't even know what to do! this is a story of humanity in the face of inhumanity. it's a story of hopelessness and of those who are helping. and of poverty in the face of wealth and power. my name is florence phiri, and i'm a journalist. my country, malawi, is one of the poorest in the world. so many women from here hoped to improve their lives in the middle east, only

to find they are trapped. this is their story, and a story of extraordinary women fighting to bring them home. but this is a universal tale, and it doesn't begin or end in one country alone. get in here, get in here, get in here! what do we have here? i'm watching live from nigeria, lagos. no, no, no, no, my brother, you are just right in time. ah, otis, long time. how are you doing? somebody here is asking, like, "what will you tell us about oman?" i will not advise you to go to oman. i would not want even my enemies to go through that. i am a malawian. even though i live here in america, i was born a malawian and that

will never change. over the past two years, i've become a social media activist, and have almost 25,000 followers. over a year ago, i saw this post, and this was a young woman. her name was georgina, who was explaining that, "i am in oman. "i came here, only to realise that i am trapped." are you alone in oman? she told me, "no. there are many girls. "they also want help "because they are trapped in oman." she sobs they threatened to stab me to death. if i die, no—one will know, because they will dump my body. she sniffles

the very first day _ i left, my passport was taken away from me. they know, whatever they can do to us, we can never escape. - i work from sunday to sunday. i don't have a day off. you're not allowed to talk. to anyone, no matter what. georgina's the first victim. then it was one girl, two girls, three girls, up to almost 50 malawian young women that contacted me that, "i am also here, and i need help." that's when i said, "ok, so you know what, guys? "what we're going to do — i'm going to form a group. "because this looks like human trafficking." as pililani began to fight online for the women's freedom, georgina managed to escape home with the help of someone in oman. for many months, i've been trying to contact women to help

tell this story — both those who are still trapped in oman, and those who have returned to tell the tale. we are on our way to meet georgina. no—one in my country had heard of the plight of women in oman until she raised an alarm online. she had a good business in the city, but was led to believe a better opportunity lay abroad that would help her support her family. i have been in touch with her many times. i know she's severely damaged and traumatised. i don't know what to expect, but i really want to hear her full story.

she sobs she sniffles

georgina still is heartbroken. she testified against the agents who sent her to oman. but after two years, there have been no convictions. as she tries to rebuild her life slowly, the fate of so many girls on pililani's whatsapp group is still unknown. after i helped georgina, i felt so mad. i felt so angry. and the number kept on raising up. that's when i knew that, "oh, this is something that is huge "and needs our government to act as soon as possible." i become to know many people who understand what human trafficking is all about. so, one of the people that worked in human trafficking in malawi gave me

the numberfor eka. pililani was one of the first malawians to reach out to me, and this is how everything started. this is a regional group, and this is where the women and i am part of. and this is when we want to really check how many were deceived and to what extent. my name is ekaterina porras sivolobova. i am mexican—russian. i come from a migrant family, so i am familiar with the struggles that migrant families face. i'm just hoping that we will be able to have a conversation about blessings. we are really, really hoping that she can return home. i work with a community of migrant workers in the gulf countries. we identify them as victims

of trafficking or forced labour, or other forms of exploitation. so, we negotiate with their employer for them to be released. assalaamu alaikum, i hope you are well. my name is eka, and i wanted to reach to you to see if i can help my friend to return home. it's a very gentle process where sometimes, we hear all the complaints of the employer, and we hear, "0h, she's lazy, she doesn't want to work, and she's..." and many times, they even say, "oh, she doesn't want to leave. "what is her problem? stop bothering me." phone chimes

he came and he told me that he can't - let me to go home without giving them their money. i ok, i got your location. and now, can you just — your phone — can you make sure you have a pin, so nobody can open your phone? the malawian government reached out to us because they wanted to help the women return home, and they wanted to know how they can do that. so, we started working together to start repatriating these women home. the laws that are in place prohibit a domestic worker to leave the employer. she cannot change jobs, and she cannot leave the country no matter how you are treated.

whilst eka and pililani are trying to help women come home, i've been trying to understand what life is like for those still in oman. i think what's happening in oman to those coming from malawi, it's like they are my sisters. so, ifeelforthem. i'm a young woman. i know they are also young women my age, so i know it's the struggle that makes them go there. ijust feel it's hard because it's a country where you don't know anybody. you can't speak to anybody.

so, when i put myself in theirshoes, i know... ..if circumstances were allowing me, it could have been me, for sure. girls put themselves at enormous risk speaking out and it's only late at night that i've managed to reach any. i know that if they are caught talking to me, they could be in trouble, so i have been extremely careful. after many months, one young woman has sent some video messages. i've gained her trust and we have become friends. charity... ..i�*ve grown so connected with her that... ..i always wait

to hearfrom her. within days of contacting rita, charity had travelled to the middle east. charity is the last person

i think of every night. weakjustice and desperation lead girls to the middle east. but there is a chain of exploitation that begins here. they are lured by agents with false promises of good jobs and salaries. i have been trying to contact agents in malawi for months. finally, we get a break, getting rita's phone number. our undercover reporter tries to contact her to see if she is still operating entirely online. "hello, mama. "a friend gave me your number. "can you help me get ajob in oman?" within 2a hours, rita responds.

our undercover reporter sends her the necessary documents, and we wait. i have arranged to meet the sister of one of the girls in oman. stevelia has been a vocal and vital force for her sister, blessings, who left four children without telling them in december 2022. we know she's in trouble. at first, i would just tell them that, "your mummyjust went to blantyre, "she's visiting friends." then the next day, i had to create something else, say, "ah, she's attending a wedding someplace. "she'll be coming soon." the question was always, "how soon are they coming? "when is she coming back?"

with each passing day, especially into the second and the third week, i think that's when these bosses started now showing their true colours. my sister had...severe burns, so she would only say, "sister, i'm burnt. "look, i made a video call." so, i see all these scars and i say, "what has happened? "why are you not in the hospital?"

stevelia feared the worst as she lost all communication with her sister. she chased the agent continually.

the degree of the burns... trust me, instantly, i saw her. i saw my sister losing her own life. and i remember my sister said, "sister, you know what? "i came here because i needed a better life. "but should i die, please take care of my kids." and that hurt me. but what do i tell the kids? already, i've been lying that she's in blantyre. how do i start explaining all this? what am i supposed to say? the voice note from the agent saying that blessings had died was a cruel lie. relieved sigh

i could take a long sigh of relief, like... she sighs ..finally. you know, when you're the big sister, and you couldn't even help in any way... yeah, that really hit me again.

but at the same time, so, so, so, so grateful that she's finally home. yeah. very happy, like, "yes!" and it's almost like a dream. but when i open my eyes, it's reality. she's actually there, i can actually see her. yeah. . . i'm just speechless. you know, the government has always told me that my sister was not the first case. but they kept telling me, "stevelia, you've been a mouthpiece of your sister. "but there are some people out there who don't have anyone "to speak on their behalf. "they're not even safe. "if these people decide to kill them, they can kill them — "who will know where they are?"

she sobs and screams i told the doctor that... what you told the doctor?! i'm angry. i'm so, so, so very angry with these people. it's racism and hard—hearted. that's just how they are. any african, whether it's from kenya, malawi, tanzania — never go to this country. never. not in oman. then you're lost. blessings is one of the lucky ones. her sister campaigned nonstop. and with eka's help, the malawi government paid her release money and her air ticket home. so, i got a message

from your employer. he's asking for the money. i think we can work something out with him. um, but before we really, er, start negotiating with him, i want to hear from you that you do want to go home, because he's saying that you don't want to. it's the employers who often break contracts by not giving girls a day off a week, by treating them abusively and failing to pay their salaries. so paying release money sets a dangerous precedent. the employers pay an agent for providing a domestic worker. one of the most common challenges is that the employer or agent says, "i want my money back. "then she can go home." because we understand that this money fuels human trafficking, fuels labour exploitation, it's very important to negotiate to zero.

and that can take months. blessings was one of our priorities to be returned, just because she needed medical treatment. we were asked not to negotiate to zero, in orderjust to make it faster to come home. just now, chalidi was texting me to say that the boss is furious and they have disconnected her internet... on phone: ..on the usual phone that he uses. and now, they have told her to give them back their money. hi, just want to hear from you and check whether you have heard anything, whether they have said anything. when was the last time that you saw her connected? just to check on her? last thing that she wrote, "i need your help urgently. i'm in a bad situation." this was at 3.00, almost 4.00 today. and then, i replied —

and she has not replied. now it's almost ten.

hello there. the easter weekend will settle down a little — perhaps music to your ears, in comparison to the last few days. yes, there will be more sunshine around and fewer showers — and as a result, it will be a little warmer. but there's more rain to come for some of us by easter monday. more on that in just a moment — for the moment, though, the low pressure is drifting its way westwards, the isobars are opening out. so saturday will be a quieter, less windy day for all of us. maybe a little more cloud across east anglia and that kent coast, and a few isolated showers out to the west — most frequent showers perhaps

to northern ireland and scotland — but even so, few and far between in comparison to recent days. ii—is celsius, with a little more sunshine coming through — that should feel quite pleasant. now, with those clear skies by day continuing through the night, though, temperatures are likely to fall away for some — the exception down to the south—west, where we could continue to see some showers pushing up through the channel isles and across cornwall. but low single figures, a touch of frost is likely through scotland and north—east england, and even some patchy fog. it's worth bearing in mind, as well, that we are springing into british summer time on sunday. yes, we all lose an hour, but the clocks go forward and the daytimes get a little longer. so, sunday morning, then, the fog will lift quite readily away. a lot of dry settled weather for most of us on sunday. that rain down towards the south—west could still be a bit of a nuisance here, and temperatures generally

between 10 and 11! degrees once again. now, as we move out of sunday into monday is when we start to see the potential for another spell of wet weather, as the low drifts its way eastwards once again and bring some rain for england and wales. not looking too bad — the best of the sunshine, perhaps through northern ireland and western scotland. more cloud coming in off the north sea, and the rain will be quite showery from time to time across england and wales. but as a result of the change of wind direction, here a little cooler on those exposed east coast — 9 or 10 degrees, perhaps highest values of 12 celsius. and then, as we move out of monday into tuesday, low pressure is set to dominate the weather story — you can see the next system waiting in the wings. and so, as we go through the week ahead, we'll see some showers or longer spells of rain from time to time.

live from washington. this is bbc news. the biden administration

reportedly greenlights the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighterjets to israel. a crane is deployed to help clear debris at the site of a baltimore bridge that was struck by a ship and collapsed. as us journalist evan gershkovich marks a year of russian imprisonment, we examine his case and the challenges of reporting there. hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. we begin the program in the middle east where the israeli defence minister says that israel will pursue hezbollah wherever the iran—backed militant group operates. yoav gallant issued the warning hours after airstrikes on hezbollah in both syria and lebanon. the israeli military said they killed the deputy commander of hezbollah�*s missiles unit. meanwhile: israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has agreed to send officials to egypt and qatar in the coming days for a new round of talks

on a possible ceasefire in gaza. injerusalem, there is an uneasy calm, as palestinians