Women warned on Turkish cabaret ad
Durban - The Turkish government has issued a warning to women to exercise “extreme caution” if they audition to work as cabaret dancers at a nightclub in Turkey.
A Cape Town woman who responded to the Gumtree advert for recruitment contacted the consulate, wanting to find out whether there had been an application by the company for a work permit.
This advert could not be found on the Gumtree site on Tuesday.
Glenn Babb, the honorary consul-general for Turkey in Cape Town, said it was suspected the operation might not be legal.
“We are aware that an agent has been recruiting young women to dance in cabarets in Turkey. As far as this office is aware, no applications have been received for work visas for those recruitments. Unless work visas have been arranged for the dancers, these job offers should not be accepted,” he said.
Babb said there could be many possible dangers as similar recruitment adverts had been used to lure people abroad illegally.
“The young women are told by the employers or the agents to enter the country illegally as tourists,” Babb said.
“Job offers are often made to women to work as dancers (for the hours) 10pm to 4am. It is promised they will be paid well.
“On their arrival (in Turkey), their passports and cellphones are taken away.
“They are told that because they are in the country illegally, they should not report to the police - or they will have to face the consequences.”
This placed innocent people in a vulnerable position and forced them to perform services and act in ways not included in their contracts, Babb said.
“Extreme caution should be exercised concerning these offers as we are not certain how many women have responded to this advert.”
The woman who alerted the embassy to the ad told the Cape Times on Tuesday that while she was not a professional dancer, she had been asked to send a short video clip of herself doing a cabaret. The woman has asked not to be named.
“My friend saw the ad on Gumtree. It had the name of a club with an international number and said they were looking for cabaret dancers.
“I e-mailed the recruiter and after a while she responded. She asked me to send a video of myself doing a short cabaret routine.”
The would-be dancer said she knew something was wrong when the recruiter told her that she would receive her work permit only on her arrival in Turkey.
“By then, we had contacted the consulate and found out that they hadn’t received any applications for these work permits. I’m just glad we found out before I was going to leave for Turkey,” she said.
Anyone who has auditioned or has accepted the offer to dance in the Turkish cabaret has been urged to verify their visa status by contacting the Turkish embassy in Pretoria at 012 342 6055.
The Mercury