Partner is in Abu Dhabi - employer retaining her passport

Hello,

I am new to this board, so firstly hello and thank you for reading this thread.

I am becoming increasingly concerned for the wellbeing of my partner, who is currently working for a wealthy restaurant in Abu Dhabi. I am ignorant to the laws of the UAE at large, so please work with my current level of knowledge.

She moved out from the UK to Dubai last year and worked for a very wealthy restaurant there, (I would assume they have lots of "wasta"). This restaurant business opened up a new chain in Abu Dhabi at the start of the year and she was transferred there.

The company have immediately "banned" her Dubai visa whilst they work on "processing" the new Abu Dhabi visa. She believes she can no longer look for other work in Dubai. They have been keeping her passport and "processing" her visa since January, now. This is raising alarm flags for me. Her and her colleagues are living in company-picked location, 40 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi in a work village, generally isolated.

Her work days, combined with travel, are exhausting her and causing harm to her health. She was already in a not-so-great medical situation before travelling out there. She is over-worked, under-slept, becoming more unwell and the employer are being worryingly obstructive.

She is working 14 hour days, 6 days a week, and she is not receiving tips. Her take-home is less than what somebody in minimum wage in the UK would make working 8 hour days, 5 days a week. She went out there to earn money, instead she is becoming more ill, isolated, and trapped by her employer. Her contract ends in August (which was for Dubai). She has not and will not sign the new contract fr Abu Dhabi, which is a 2 year contract.

Apparently there are clauses in the contract so that if she quits early, she owes them some amount like 3,500 dihram. I assume that is legal?

What concerns me is that a couple who were working there, went to quit early, and the company said they simply would not return their passports to them unless they paid 18,000 dirham. The couple threatened police action, and mysteriously these passports which were meant to be away for "processing the visa" materialised the very next day and handed back to the couple.

The company is also saying things like "If you want your passport back, we will meet you at the airport to give it to you and under no other circumstances."  -  this is reading more like a mob - who the hell are they to withhold anybody their passport - it's not theirs???

I am ignorant to the law in the UAE. The little I have read regarding this seems to suggest that this goes anywhere from "illegal" to "grey area", depending on this "wasta"  concept used out there - which reads like a corrupt cop-out for wealthy people, but that's possibly my ignorance or my western sensibilities and not the main topic for conversation now.

What I have done:
Found and given her contact details for the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
Found and given her contact details for Police Stations in Abu Dhabi.
Found and given her a link with information regarding employers holding passports in UAE.
(She is overworked and vulnerably I don't know how confident she is in actually reaching out for help without incurring the wrath of some unfair authority).

I would please ask you all for advice on what we might be able to do to ensure she receives her passport, which is her government's property, back from this employer.

I had to work on information from a brief telephone conversation, so if you need any more info please ask.