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. 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. ifeel like i'm in prison. please, please,

please, madam, please! human trafficking is one - of the most profitable business in the world. any african should never go to this country. never. not for money. then you are lost. indistinct arguing 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? the employers pay an agent for providing a domestic worker. one of the most common challenge 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. so i got a message from your employer. he's asking for the money. i think we can work something out with him. but before we really 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 with this money sets a dangerous precedent. charity, i've grown so connected with her that...

..i always wait to hearfrom her. i have been trying to contact agents in malawi for months. finally, we get a break, getting rita's phone number. the centre for democracy and economic development initiative, cdedi, has called on government to act in a manner that cares about the welfare of malawian women enslaved in oman in the middle east. pressure is mounting here as news of the appalling treatment girls are facing is spreading. he makes radio announcement

if you are just tuning in, this is police fm. - and we are having guests - from the ministry of homeland and a representative _ from the malawi police service. we are discussing on the topic of human trafficking. - on the ground, there is a big problem in human trafficking. 300 days, we are stuck in oman. so government is doing everything possible to bring back those girls. these girls says not all that glitters is gold. so the message to the youth in our country is that, when it is too good to be true, it probably is not true. don't fall prey to these recruiters. the malawi government has set aside $400,000 to pay omani employers and to bring the women home. they hope to send a delegation to oman.

government efforts to send a delegation to oman to start the repatriation process have been frustrated. the delegation, suddenly they found themselves not being given their visas. so this has delayed the process of bringing back the women back to malawi. how are you doing? how are you feeling that you're home now? i'm just happy. i'm so happy. god bless you. my role in this omani issue, ifelt like a mother being there to comfort them, as i will do the same to my child. when i heard the update from malawi government that, you know, we are ready to go to oman, but our visas are delayed, i was angry, i was crying. what kind of government is oman? why are they delaying the visas?

we want our people back. the sponsors in oman, i feel so angry at them. i feel so mad at them. they really need to change the way they treat a fellow human being. malawi is a poor country. there's too much people who are suffering. we, as in the nation, we all are wrong. as... we are wrong in every corner of what is happening in the nation. if the young girls had an opportunity to have jobs in malawi, they were not going to be trapped. we need to fix the nation

so that these youngsters will never be trapped like this. whilst efforts to help women return falter... ..our undercoverjournalist gets back in touch with rita, who sent charity to oman, as well as other girls we have spoken to. phone rings hi!

rita is one of many agents we have followed here who profit from women, deceiving them of the reality that awaits them. on the 16th ofjune 2023, social media in my country erupted as we heard that one of the young women, aida, had died. shouting, wailing the distressed voices of women with her suggested the sponsor or employer had dropped her back at the office.

she was close to her death. images on social media showed her skeletal, unresponsive figure. the malawi government brought her body home and she was buried at dawn without any press attention or autopsy. it's eight weeks since aida passed away and her mother has agreed to speak to me. she lives in the muslim dominated district of mangochi, several hours' drive from lilongwe. the family trauma is so hard to see.

so aida is one of these cases. we believe that her working and living conditions led to mental health issues. the employer brought her back to the office. she was kept in the office without medical attention or support. she was dying. and it was until the last moment that the agent decided to take her to the hospital where she died. for a domestic worker to be able to work in oman, they have to go through a medical assessment. if she is seen unfit to work, a visa will not be given. so obviously aida was fit. she was healthy when she came. there should be an investigation. no—one has been held

accountable. nobody was investigated. not the employer. not the agent. someone should be held accountable. aida is one case. there are more. i think the responsibility falls not on just the employer or the agent, but also on the system that allows this to happen. so this is one we just received i see here last sunday. we are trying to figure out what is her name. this video is being taken at the agency and the agents know who she is. they will not tell us. and obviously she needs medical support, medical help, and possibly that is

what happened with aida. crowd sing many young women are recruited from mangochi district. as well as aida, charity, whom i have grown so close to, and who is too in oman, comes from here. being here, seeing women enjoying themselves makes me think of her and the life she's missing.

from phone: as i'm saying, i'm banned, i'm banned. - they say for me, "you have to pay back the money." i'm tired, please come for me. 0k. do you know why she was arrested? as we are filming, we have learned that the malawi government are finally allowed to travel to oman. they intend to pay for the release of all the women on the whatsapp group. when sponsors or employers are told their maids want to return home, the situation often becomes more difficult. just now, charity was texting me to say that the government people called her sponsor yesterday... some women are taken to the police station to confirm they want to leave.

some of the women were threatened by the employer before going to the police station. and in the case of charity, that's exactly what happened in the police station. instead of speaking to her privately in a safe space, she was being questioned in front of the employer. unfortunately, from then on, things turned difficult for her, because the employer knew that she had already asked someone else for help.

i know that charity counts on me. she always comes to me to talk to me about each and every issue she's facing. and this one is breaking my heart, because i know she's in a difficult situation. charity sent, just sent another text. she's crying. she seems to be in big trouble and she's saying she wants the government...she can try to call them and let them know that she's in so much trouble. so she's saying the bosses are now back and they're shouting at her. they want their money. she doesn't have the money. all she can do is cry, hide.

0k. so i heard also from the government now there are three women at least that they want me to negotiate with where the sponsors are asking extremely big money and now including charity. she was then made to sign a document. we believe that it states that she will stay. just now, charity was texting me to say that the boss is furious and they have disconnected her internet on the usual phone that he uses and now they have told her to give them back their money. i 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 three, almost four o'clock today. and then i replied, and she has not replied. now it's almost ten. it's been a few hours of sadness to me because i don't know what's happened to charity. i don't know if she's ok. she's gone offline. i don't know what will happen to her.

0k. so they were able to reach the sponsor and i think they threatened him. so he said that he's going to drop her off on saturday. it seems that he's going to be dropped off at... wow. ..where the government is staying in the hotel and that's where he's going to... this is amazing. and hopefully to travel on sunday. finally. i don't know. i'm just so happy. i was super—worried. and then now hearing this, ijust feel this is the most beautiful news of the day. it seems that she will be flying out on sunday. thank you! it's strange to be at the airport again, and this time waiting for charity. i can't wait.

it feels like my sister is coming home. hey! i cannot lie. i'm just so excited for her. it's amazing. she's free. the malawi government has asked oman not to give visas to malawi citizens. to date, we believe there has been no response. but with news of these women coming home, agents here are changing track. rita never sends the

documents she promised. last week, i noticed that the group is quiet. so as a mother of the group, i said, "let me check how many are home now." almost all of them that i had on my group are home. i felt so excited that they are back home alive. ifelt like a winner. so in the repatriation list we have 52 people, but then we also have aida. so we really have 51. the majority of these women have been released because money has been paid to the employer, from $1,000 to $2,000 per person just for the release, plus the flight ticket. so basically their freedom had to be bought, and that's what bothers me. how can you buy somebody else's freedom?

it's estimated that up to $150,000 was paid by the malawi government for these women to return. there is no transparency about the hundreds of thousands more set aside. those who have returned have no help to enable them to move on. they live with trauma as well as the poverty they tried so hard to escape.

hello. storm kathleen will dominate our weather through this weekend. a deep area of low pressure passing well to the west of the uk, but close enough to bring gales

in northern and western parts. one other consequence though — some very warm air being drawn up from the south. here's how the storm developed during friday. a strong and powerfuljet stream really energising this area of low pressure, this curl of clouds developing here. wherever you see a weather system spinning up into a curl like this, well, it shows that it really will mean business. this deep, low passing to the west of ireland, lots of isobars squeezing together. so some very strong winds, but also some very warm air. northern scotland, far warmer than it has been over recent days. parts of eastern england could get to 21 or 22 degrees. some rain to start off across the northern half of scotland — heavy rain at that. it will pull away northwards and then essentially it is a sunshine and showers day. some of those showers could be on the heavy side, but it is going to be windy for all, particularly around these western coast. gusts of 50, 60, 70 miles per hour in exposed spots. so that could cause some

disruption, certainly some very rough seas as well. but with those winds coming from the south, yes, it is going to be warm with temperatures peaking at 21 or maybe 22 degrees in eastern england. now through saturday evening, this weak cold front will exit the east of england. so that will leave some slightly fresher air into the early hours of sunday morning. still windy, still with quite a few showers. not as mild to start sunday morning, but still very mild for an april morning. and then into sunday, well, it's another sunshine and showers day. the showers likely to join together into bands. so some places could see quite a few of those heavy and possibly thundery showers. windy again, strongest winds, this time in the north west of scotland. gales or severe gales are likely still warm, but not as warm. temperatures north to south between ten and 16 or 17 degrees. but then as we head into the start of the new week, we're watching this area of low pressure. now, there's still a bit of uncertainty about this, but this could bring another bout of wet and very windy weather to southern parts of the uk as we head

through monday and into tuesday. we'll keep you posted on that one. whichever way you slice it, an unsettled week of weather lies ahead. that's all for me. bye for now.

live from washington, this is bbc news. the israeli defense forces fire two officers over a deadly attack on an aid convoy. an internal investigation says the idf believed they were targeting hamas gunmen and didn't follow procedures. and aid agencies say they are worried for their safety amid warnings that famine in the gaza strip is looming. welcome to this bbc special

examining the ongoing fallout from an israeli air strike that killed seven aid workers in gaza monday. i'm carl nasman. the israel defense forces have now fired two senior officers after an internal investigation called the attack a "grave accident," saying the idf believed the aid convoy was carrying hamas gunmen. that convoy belonged to the world central kitchen. the aid group has dismissed the report, calling it "cold comfort for the aid workers' families," and is urging an independent investigation. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson has more. israel says hamas gunmen often pose as aid workers. not this time. its army today said the killing of seven aid workers in air strikes this week was a grave mistake due to mistaken identification, errors in decision—making and a serious violation of army procedures. the convoy, belonging

to the charity world central kitchen, was struck in central gaza late on monday night,