Torture in [Syria] [other countries]
Human Trafficking in [Syria] [other countries]
Street Children in [Syria] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Syria] [other countries]
 

Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery

In the early years of the 21st Century gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Syria.htm

Syrian Arab Republic The Syrian economy grew by an estimated 2.4% in real terms in 2008 led by the petroleum and agricultural sectors, which together account for about one-half of GDP. Long-run economic constraints include declining oil production, high unemployment and inflation, rising budget deficits, and increasing pressure on water supplies caused by heavy use in agriculture, rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and water pollution. [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

Syria is principally a destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation. Women from Iraq, Eastern Europe, former Soviet states, Somalia, and Morocco are recruited as cabaret dancers and subsequently forced into prostitution after their employers confiscate their passports and confine them to their work premises. A significant number of women and children in the large Iraqi refugee community in Syria are forced into sexual exploitation by criminal gangs or, in some cases, their families. Some desperate Iraqi families reportedly abandon their girls at the border with the expectation that traffickers on the Syrian side would arrange forged documents for the children and “work” in a nightclub or brothel. Iraqi families arrange for young girls to work in clubs and to be "married," often multiple times, to men for the sole purpose of prostitution. Some Iraqi women and girls who turn to prostitution out of economic desperation are trafficked back into Syria after they are arrested and deported. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report]

CAUTION:  The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Syria. Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false.  No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

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Iraqi children forced into prostitution in Syria

Business Travellers against Human Trafficking, Global news on human trafficking, 6/24/2005

businesstravellers-org.web26.winsvr.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryID/987/Default.aspx

[accessed 28 December 2010]

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There is growing evidence of Iraqi children being used as prostitutes in Syria. It is estimated that there are around 700,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria, many of whom are struggling in situations of poverty. Cases are emerging of families sending their teenage daughters to work as prostitutes, in order to survive.  Abdelhamid El Ouali, the representative for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Damascus said “”It’s a serious problem because there are young girls doing this — 11, 12, 13 years old,” There is little or no discussion of this in Syria, and the government does not release figures on prostitution.

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Human Rights Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 8, 2006

www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61699.htm

[accessed 28 December 2010]

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – There were reports by NGOs and the press that indicate Iraqi women may be subjected to sexual exploitation in prostitution by Iraqi criminal networks in the country, but those reports were not confirmed. A 2003 IOM study indicated that some individuals brought into the country to work as domestic workers suffered conditions that constituted involuntary servitude, including physical and sexual abuse, threats of expulsion, denial or delayed payment of wages, withholding of passports, and restriction of movement. The IOM study documented cases in which manpower agencies in the country that hired foreign domestic workers lured some victims through fraudulent or deceptive offers of employment, despite the fact that such manpower agencies are banned.

Iraq-Syria-United Arab Emirates: Sex traffickers target women in war-torn Iraq

U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, 02 December 2006

africa.gm/africa/gambia/article/iraq-syria-united-arab-emirates-sex-traffickers-target-women-in-war-torn-iraq

[accessed 28 December 2010]

TRAFFICKED TO SYRIA - The UAE is not the only destination for trafficked Iraqi women. Syria is increasingly becoming a popular destination for traffickers, according to humanitarian agencies. A report released in May by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), the UN's Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) spoke of "organised networks dealing with the sex trade" in Syria. It made a correlation between the deteriorating conditions of Iraqi citizens and an increase in prostitution and trafficking of Iraqi sex workers. "It is not possible to say how big the trafficking problem from Iraq to Syria is but we know it does exist," said Ann Maymann, a protection officer with UNHCR in Damascus. "It is something that has been kept quiet because people are afraid to talk about it." Local activists in Syria say much more needs to be done to protect this vulnerable and increasingly exploited community.

Iraqi children forced into prostitution in Syria

Business Travellers against Human Trafficking, Global news on human trafficking, 6/24/2005

businesstravellers-org.web26.winsvr.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryID/987/Default.aspx

[accessed 28 December 2010]

[scroll down]

There is growing evidence of Iraqi children being used as prostitutes in Syria. It is estimated that there are around 700,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria, many of whom are struggling in situations of poverty. Cases are emerging of families sending their teenage daughters to work as prostitutes, in order to survive.  Abdelhamid El Ouali, the representative for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Damascus said “”It’s a serious problem because there are young girls doing this — 11, 12, 13 years old,” There is little or no discussion of this in Syria, and the government does not release figures on prostitution.

Authorities tackle issue of human trafficking

U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, 13 September 2005

www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=25472

[accessed 28 December 2010]

A workshop in Syria to address the problem of human trafficking and raise awareness has greatly contributed to understanding the scope of the issue, government officials said as they consider new anti-trafficking legislation. The workshop was held in Damascus on 11-12 September by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior. “The holding of this workshop does not imply that there is serious trafficking problem in Syria. The Syrian authorities took the initiative to cooperate with IOM in organizing this workshop as part of the capacity building activities of IOM in Syria,” Richard Danziger, Head of IOM’s Counter Trafficking Service, said in Damascus.

Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 7 Civil Liberties: 6 Status: Not Free

2009 Edition

www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/syria

[accessed 28 June 2012]

Human Rights Overview

Human Rights Watch

www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/syria

[accessed 28 December 2010]

U.S. Library of Congress - Country Study

Library of Congress Call Number DS93 .S953 1988

lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sytoc.html

[accessed 28 December 2010]

Commercial sexual exploitation of children is not present in Syria

Arabic News, 1/9/2002

www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020109/2002010936.html

[accessed 28 December 2010]

Al-Sheikh added that in his presentation to the Congress he pointed out that the problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children is not present in Syria, and that prostitution and pornography is very small, due to the firm social and families ties.

Syria human rights record

Arabic News, 3/10/2001

www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/010310/2001031042.html

[accessed 28 December 2010]

There is no law prohibiting forced or compulsory labor, including that performed by children. There were no reports of forced labor involving children or foreign or domestic workers.

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Torture in [Syria] [other countries]
Human Trafficking in [Syria] [other countries]
Street Children in [Syria] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Syria] [other countries]