GENEVA: The UN refugee agency sounded the alarm on Friday about vulnerable women and children who are among hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants pouring into southeast Europe, saying it has received reports that some are being forced into sex to pay their way onward.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees cautioned that it doesn’t have a full grasp of how widespread the problem is, but says women and children travelling alone who are short of cash and sleeping in places like parks and train stations are particularly vulnerable.

Some authorities, it said, have increased the risk for children by placing them in detention along with adults while they wait for official processing of asylum applications.

“From testimony and reports we have received there have been instances of children engaging in survival sex to pay smugglers to continue their journey, either because they have run out money, or because they have been robbed,” UNHCR said in a statement.

People fleeing war and poverty in places like Syria and Iraq have been taking boats to Greece and Italy, then travelling by foot, bus and train north and west to countries like Germany and Sweden.

Spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said some testimonies came from “overcrowded reception sites” such as in Greece, the main point of entry for more than 644,000 people — about a third of them women and children — who UNHCR estimates have reached Europe this year. She said it is assessing how many children might be affected, but was going public with the concerns to pressure governments along the route to do more to help children.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2015

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