BONUS: Drew Engel, anti-trafficking adviser at the US Embassy in Liberia, on the breakthrough return of more than 250 trafficking victims from Oman

Liberia: Democracy in Focus

Over the last four months ago, we’ve been reporting about the trafficking of more than 350 Liberian women to the Middle Eastern country of Oman.

A network of traffickers including Liberians and Omanis deceived the women into believing they were going for good jobs that would change their families lives. Instead they were trapped in a scam that had them working as domestic servants in hellish conditions with no way out.

Unlike in previous trafficking scams, this time the government got tough. It engaged Omani authorities and began prosecuting traffickers. It issued an international arrest warrant for alleged mastermind Liberian Samuel Chan Chan. His brother Arthur is serving a 25-year sentence for his role in getting women past security checks at the airport where he was a national security officer. Others who helped in the scheme have been jailed and charged.

Most unusual - at least 250 of the women have come home in what experts say is the first time a large group of women has broken free of a trafficking trap of its kind.

In this podcast extra, Anthony Stephens interviews Drew Engel, the anti-trafficking advisor in the US Embassy in Liberia.

Funding for this podcast comes from the Swedish and US embassies in Liberia and the American Jewish World Service. See more of our collaborations with media in West Africa at www.newnarratives.org