Since August, the number of Arakanese Muslims who fled from the persecution of the Myanmar state and buddhist gangs and took refuge in the refugee camps in Bangladesh has exceeded 700,000. It turns out that the gangs near the camps especially sell the young Muslim girls to foreigners by forcing them into prostitution.
According to the BBC, Muslim girls fleeing persecution in Myanmar are exposed to sexual abuse in Bangladesh. The tough conditions in the public are giving the gangs a chance for children to struggle with the prostitution. Many of them end up in brutal tactics and fall into the hands of these groups.
It is stated that prostitution is under a kind of hierarchy in Cox's Bazaar. Arakan Muslim girls are seen as the cheapest ones. It is said that Muslim girls aged between 13 and 17 and whose actual numbers are not known are abused by the threat of repression, torture, and death. It is also said that some young girls have been missing somehow after a while.
Arakanese Muslim girls are not only taken to Bangladesh but also to Nepal's capital Kathmandu and Kolkata in India. In Kolkata, prostitution has become a big industry. These children are given an Indian ID card and are dragged into the system. The Internet has a major role in selling women and children, and drag them into the sex trafficking. According to Dhaka police, these smugglers are using open and closed Facebook groups to sell children. In fact, a user provides a systematic guide to how children in Arakan in the midst of the refugee crisis will be exploited and how to escape from the police.
The thread has since been taken down by the authorities but it offered a chilling insight into how refugee crises provide opportunities for pedophiles and traffickers to prey on people at their most vulnerable. (ILKHA)