Syrian women are victims of human trafficking in Lebanon

An investigation on Al Jazeera portal shed light on the fates of Syrian women and girl refugees in Lebanon who have become preys to human trafficking mafias and are higher risk of sexual exploitation in the country. There is extensive news of displaced Syrian women and girls who have ended up in the hands of human traffickers. Some who got married in Syria or Lebanon have discovered that their husbands are involved in sex rings, while others living in refugee camps have been forced into selling sex. Some parents also sold their own daughters to sex dealers. The above documentary published figures by ISF in Lebanon which showed that the number of victims of human trafficking reached 19 persons in 2015, 87 persons in 2016 and 54 persons in 2017, mostly Syrian women refuges. In return, the investigation cited International Migration Organization records which pointed to thousands of victims of commercial sex in 2017 only. According to the documentary, when arrested, the victims of human trafficking in Lebanon are treated as criminals and not as sufferers. The only assistance victims get at the end of their prison term is from community organizations, specifically, Dar Al Amal, Kafa and ALEF. In a related development, Kafa officer for combatting trafficking in women, Ghada Jabur, explained that efforts underway to protect Syrian women and girls’ refugees are inadequate. She criticized the absence of government awareness programs targeting the human trafficking victims. Similarly, social campaigner, Ghinwa Younis, lamented that lack of support in this respect often leads to an active return by victims to the same business. For his part, the head of the ISF Public Relations Department, Joseph Mosallam, pointed out that it is unlikely, during the arrest, to differentiate between prostitutes and human trafficking victims. Fighting human trafficking, he clarified, is one of multiple priorities of the ISF, adding, the entire government is under pressure and manipulation! (You can find the complete investigation on https://bit.ly/2SAdgho. (Al Jazeera.com, February 11, 2020)