Black Market: Dispatches (2016): Season 1, Episode 4 - Syrian Refugee Girls - full transcript

Desperate young women fleeing the Syrian war are being trafficked into the sex trade under the guise of religion.

You know, in this episode,
we're basically looking at

the impact that war has
on a black market.

You got this war in Syria

that makes these women flee to
Lebanon for a chance to live --

not even a better way of life,
just so they don't die

as collateral damage.

When they get to -- to Lebanon,

you know, you can't work,
you have no rights,

and they're forced into this
black market

of selling themselves.

Dina Amer found out when she
went to Lebanon



that some of the world's most
vulnerable outsiders

are turning to the black market
just to survive.

Our goal is just to simply show
the world a window

as to why people do
the things they do,

where that desperation
comes from.

It's like they say,

when the system fails you,

you create your own system.

We're here in Beirut to uncover
a thriving black market

that is based on the buying
and selling

of young Syrian refugee women
into the sex trade.

As the sun sets over the city,

these markets close,
and another one opens.

The cabbies here
often double as guides



for Beirut's sex tourists.

So I found one
to show me around.

We're gonna go with Muhammad to
check out all these super clubs.

He's gonna give us a tour
because this is his, like,

hangout area every weekend.

**

Super nightclubs
are fronts for prostitution

found on the outskirts
of Beirut.

Muhammad's been driving
around guys looking for sex

in Beirut for 20 years.

So I wanted to know what changes
he's seen.

Muhammad agrees to take my
local producer Rami to a club

that is known to hire out
Syrian women.

We give our team hidden cameras
and some spending money

to see how the system works.

Prostitution is illegal,

so the super clubs don't allow
sex on their premises.

The exchange goes down
outside the club.

Rami and Muhammad have bought
two hours of the girl's time

to be redeemed
at a nearby hotel.

In our case,
we just want to talk.

Rami and Muhammad make an
excuse to leave and say goodbye.

This woman is one of more than
4 million Syrians

who have fled the bloody civil
war in their home country.

Nearly a 1.5 million of them

ended up here in neighboring
Lebanon.

But the Lebanese government bars
these refugees

from legally working,

and that's fueling their
desperation.

How are you?
Thank you for having us.

Maya Al-Ammar
is a local activist

who focuses on women's rights.

The whole Lebanese state is
benefiting from the exploitation

of women in general,
and especially

Syrian women and girls,
refugees.

It's true that we have a
trafficking law in Lebanon,

but the police cannot
shut them down

unless it's a witnessed crime of
a monetary transaction

between the woman
and the client.

These women are locked
inside rooms,

and the only time
when they can go out

is the time when they can see
the client.

That's it.

In an upscale
apartment building,

I meet another young sex worker
who goes by the name Eman.

Eman grew up just 90 miles over
the Syrian border in Homs.

In 2011, Homs became
one of the first cities

to rise up
against the Asad regime,

leading to a three-year siege
on rebel forces

that killed thousands
and left the city destroyed.

With her parents likely dead

and separated from a husband
and a newborn baby,

she fled to Lebanon.

**

Lebanon has long been the
unofficial brothel

of the Middle East.

But since the Syrian war began,

the flood of refugees
has provided a new supply

of desperate, young women.

I meet with a young Syrian sex
worker, who I'll call Carol.

She asked that
her identity be concealed.

Carol's story is common in
the refugee camps

outside of Beirut.

Knowing that they are not
allowed to work legally,

sex traffickers routinely
recruit young girls

with promises of
menial jobs in the city.

But these turned out to be
cover-ups for the real offer.

As desperate young
refugees like Carol

turn to prostitution,

the sex-work industry is
changing drastically

here in Lebanon.

So what does that mean for
the market?

To find out, I tracked down
Carol's pimp, a nightclub owner.

He's agreed to talk to me,

but it have to sneak into his
club unseen during off hours.

But the reality of the sex trade

has turned out to be
far different.

This pimp used to charge
up to $700

for a three-hour date with
the club's most desirable girls.

But with refugees
saturating the market,

Syrian girls can now go for
as little as $50.

And once the pimp takes his cut,

the girls often take home
little to nothing.

This pimp may have
accepted his fate,

but here in Lebanon, there are
many potential customers

who still hope to find favor
with God.

So as the market here changes,

pimps come up with new scams
to keep the clients coming.

And that includes selling sex
under the guise of Islam.

In Lebanon, like the rest
of the Islamic world,

conservative religious men

aren't comfortable picking up
a woman at a bar,

let alone hiring a prostitute.

But those
who want to pay for sex

are able to get around
this rule.

They use one of the most
controversial parts

of Lebanon's sex trade --
the mut'ah --

a religiously sanctioned
temporary marriage.

Most Islamic scholars
consider it a sham.

These so-called marriages can be
as short as three days.

They are set up by men who call
themselves sheikhs,

who arrange the sale of Syrian
refugee girls

to older, wealthy men.

I'm going undercover
to meet one of these sheikhs,

posing as a personal assistant
to a rich Egyptian businessman

who's looking for a wife for his
upcoming two-week visit

to Beirut.

All right, so we're miked up.

We're gonna
go meet the sheikh now,

and I'm feeling a little anxious

because I'm worried that he
might kind of get the sense

that this is just a dupe

and we're not actually gonna
get any girls from him.

Our local producer, Rami,
joins me, acting as my guide.

The term "sheikh"
was once a reserved for

a leader of a Muslim community.

But this one acts as a priest,
matchmaker, and pimp.

He'll get a feel for what kind
of girl

the client is looking for

and then offer up potential
brides for sale.

The sheikh promises virgins

with no long-term risk to
the client.

For $9,000,

a sheikh will provide my
fictional boss with a wife

for two weeks, after which he'll
declare the marriage

null and void.

He'll pocket a 75% finder's fee,

and leave $2,000 for the bride,

or in many cases, for the family
that sold her off.

**

That night,
I go to meet the sheikh...

and three Syrian refugees,
each under the age of 18.

They believe I'm looking to
hire someone

for a short-term marriage
with my fictional boss.

Giving little more than
"yes" or "no" answers,

the girls are all nervous
and scared.

The sheikh hadn't told them
what they would make

or what was even
expected of them.

But they are all willing to
go through with it.

It's devastating,

but for the sheikh,
it's good business.

And the guy who chaperones them

sits with them
with his prayer beads

while he negotiates prices.

I'll call off the bogus deal.

But what happens when a girl is
married off to a real man

seeking a religious pass
on a teenage sex slave?

I'm in the poor beachfront
area of Jnah in southern Beirut.

I'm about to meet with a girl
who is originally from Homs,

and she was tricked into
a temporary marriage.

And the consequences of it

she's going to have to live with
forever.

The so-called sheikh
I met earlier

approached her father
with a proposition.

Her father had brokered
the deal as a temporary marriage

behind her back.

She thought
she was getting married

for the rest of her life.

After the wedding,
dad kept the money

while his daughter
fulfilled the contract.

In the Middle East,
the perception of honor

is everything.

Once these girls enter
the sex trade,

reintegrating into society will
be extremely difficult.

It's almost impossible to get
out of prostitution on your own.

One, because of the social
stigma that is there.

Two, because of lack of options
and support.

And three, you have the --
the realities they live in

and the material conditions.

Unfortunately, it is very hard
unless, one,

the state does not
criminalize her

and criminalizes those
who exploit her.

And two, you have more
social systems

for these women and girls.

Since we finished filming,

this girl has given birth
to her child,

but her father is raising him.

The girl I talked to
on the Ferris wheel

got out of Lebanon.

And aid organization

arranged for her to move in
with a family in the West.

But the vast majority
of sex workers

are still stuck in Lebanon,

where the situation
is getting worse.

And many young women will have
to make a choice --

struggle to survive on aid

or turn to the sex trade.

**