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Syrian girls 'sold' into forced marriages
Syrian women and girls, some as young as 14 years old, are being 'sold' into forced marriages or prostitution after becoming refugees, aid workers and religious charities have said.
By Ruth Sherlock, Carol Malouf in Zataari refugee camp
6:27PM GMT 23 Jan 2013
In Jordan, hundreds of Syrian females have been affected by an informal trade that has sprung up since the start of the war in Syria, where men use "agents" to source Syrian refugees to use for sex.
Often this is done under the guise of "marriage": The 'dowry', which in Muslim society is traditionally paid by the groom as a guarantee of the bride's security has become a payment for sex. And the "marriage", is an affair that lasts only a few days or even hours.
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Men travelled from Saudi Arabia and other countries to marry girls in the camps. They would pay rent for a home outside the camp and tell the women they would support them. Then they would have sex with them and divorce them one week later."
Mr Hamad said: "They would tell them: 'we will marry you like this now and then formalise it when we go to Saudi Arabia.' But then they would leave and change their phone numbers. Many Syrian girls have been impregnated and abandoned in this way."
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Guards at Zataari camp told The Daily Telegraph that they had frequently received requests by Arab men, mainly from Jordan or Saudi Arabia, to be given access to the camp so that they could find a "nice young bride".
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More overt prostitution is also common among Syrian refugees said Wissam, a Jordanian resident who knows people involved in the trade: "There is a women who acts like an agent, bringing the girls from the camps. The normal cost for one hour with a Syrian girl is 50JD, but if she only recently lost her virginity then you pay 100JD".
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Syrian women and girls, some as young as 14 years old, are being 'sold' into forced marriages or prostitution after becoming refugees, aid workers and religious charities have said.
By Ruth Sherlock, Carol Malouf in Zataari refugee camp
6:27PM GMT 23 Jan 2013
In Jordan, hundreds of Syrian females have been affected by an informal trade that has sprung up since the start of the war in Syria, where men use "agents" to source Syrian refugees to use for sex.
Often this is done under the guise of "marriage": The 'dowry', which in Muslim society is traditionally paid by the groom as a guarantee of the bride's security has become a payment for sex. And the "marriage", is an affair that lasts only a few days or even hours.
snip
Men travelled from Saudi Arabia and other countries to marry girls in the camps. They would pay rent for a home outside the camp and tell the women they would support them. Then they would have sex with them and divorce them one week later."
Mr Hamad said: "They would tell them: 'we will marry you like this now and then formalise it when we go to Saudi Arabia.' But then they would leave and change their phone numbers. Many Syrian girls have been impregnated and abandoned in this way."
snip
Guards at Zataari camp told The Daily Telegraph that they had frequently received requests by Arab men, mainly from Jordan or Saudi Arabia, to be given access to the camp so that they could find a "nice young bride".
snip
More overt prostitution is also common among Syrian refugees said Wissam, a Jordanian resident who knows people involved in the trade: "There is a women who acts like an agent, bringing the girls from the camps. The normal cost for one hour with a Syrian girl is 50JD, but if she only recently lost her virginity then you pay 100JD".
more...
