Security guards at one Berlin refugee centre pimp out their wards for cash.
ADVERTISEMENTGermany’s ZDF has found evidence of refugees in Berlin selling themselves for sex in order to get by. A network has developed, involving at least one refugee centre, where security guards are acting as pimps.
The famous Tiergarten in the city centre has become a haunt for the trade, which can involve minors and those whose asylum applications have been rejected.
Diana Henninges works for the Berlin refugee aid organization “Moabit helps”.
“This pressure comes from feeling like ‘I’m rejected, I’m not allowed to work, have no work permit, I’ve only got a little money, I would love to do more for you.’ There’s a permanent fear of hopelessness. Prostitution is actually a compulsive act out of it,” she says.
Some of the migrants feel obliged to send money back home to their families, and this is the only way they can do it. Others may owe money to people traffickers, who have few scruples about where the money comes from.
One refugee security guard at the Wilmersdorf refugee centre was prepared to speak.
“For every hookup I get 20 euros. this is why I make them get laid,” he admits.
“Is there a prostitution network at the refugee home?”
“Yes, there are many. Refugees just need money.”
“Are there minors who prostitute themselves?”
“Yes, there are,” he says, matter-of-factly.
These sort of stories have emerged ever since the current wave of migration into Germany began, but the fact that it is going on in the refugee centres themselves under the nose of the authorities has shocked many.