4 more trafficked girls arrive

The Government of Liberia through the National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force has announced the arrival of four additional Liberian girls allegedly trafficked to Lebanon.

According to the Ministry of Labour, the Task Force detailed that upon their return last week, the girls were taken to a safe home where they joined 10 others, who were earlier rescued and repatriated from Lebanon.

It could be recall, Dozens of Liberian girls are becoming victims of a human trafficking syndicate which operates between here and the middle Eastern country of Lebanon allegedly by Lebanese merchant; this paper has learnt while at the safe home, these victims of alleged human trafficking, domestic servitude and sexual exploitation will receive the much needed psychosocial support and routine medical check-ups to ensure that the psychosocial and medical impacts of their nightmares are adequately addressed.

Liberia’s Labor Minister Neto Zarzar Lighe’ said, 62 of the girls were reportedly taken from the country by some Lebanese businessmen, in collaboration with some Liberians under the guise of giving them a greener pasture.

The girls were taken to Lebanon by a Lebanese businessman- Abbas Debs, owner of the Speedo Printing Press in Monrovia.

Mr. Debs is reported to have put the girls under the impression that they were being taken to Lebanon to work at his brother’s business center which needed more workers.  But upon their arrival in Lebanon, it was a different story, as people who had paid $250.00 for them had gone to the airport for them to be used as house girls and sex slaves.

The release added the Task Force informs the public that keeping these girls in safe homes is important and necessary as government collects their testimonies to help with the prosecution of the alleged human traffickers.

 The Government encourages everyone, including members of their respective families and the Press to protect the identities of these girls which is crucial in safeguarding them from stigmatization while they endeavor to build their lives afresh after these unfortunate experiences.

Meanwhile, the National Anti- Human Trafficking Task Force assures all Liberians that the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators is in process and that the government is working with the Lebanese Community in Liberia, the Lebanese Government and all its international partners to identify and bring back to the country all Liberian girls, who are similarly situated.