Ana Maria Luca
November 15, 2013
Marriages of shame
Child marriages among Syrian refugees have turned into a lucrative business
Sahar* wished she could slap that Saudi sheikh, just like she had slapped taxi drivers asking her to provide them with young Syrian girls. But instead she just said no and told him that if he shows up at that mosque again she will cut his beard. Then she says she left, slamming the door. It wasnt just an accident, neither was it just one sheikh who asked her to serve as a matchmaker.
A few months later, another Saudi sheikh approached her at the mosque: He wanted a young Syrian girl to marry and he was wondering whether she could find him a bride, for a fee, of course. Sometimes she gets such proposals from taxi drivers. Once, I was in a taxi and the driver approached me. There was this Lebanese sheikh who wanted to marry a Syrian girl. He will give you money, and he will also give that woman money, he told me. I slapped him, as usual, she recalled.
Sahar is a conservative Muslim. She wears a hijab, she dons an abaya, she goes to the mosque. I am a good girl, I am trustworthy. They feel they can trust me with that, she explains. If I agree to sell a girl, maybe some other woman would sell me against my will.
To read the article in its entirety, go to:
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520916-marriages-of-shame
November 15, 2013
Marriages of shame
Child marriages among Syrian refugees have turned into a lucrative business
Sahar* wished she could slap that Saudi sheikh, just like she had slapped taxi drivers asking her to provide them with young Syrian girls. But instead she just said no and told him that if he shows up at that mosque again she will cut his beard. Then she says she left, slamming the door. It wasnt just an accident, neither was it just one sheikh who asked her to serve as a matchmaker.
A few months later, another Saudi sheikh approached her at the mosque: He wanted a young Syrian girl to marry and he was wondering whether she could find him a bride, for a fee, of course. Sometimes she gets such proposals from taxi drivers. Once, I was in a taxi and the driver approached me. There was this Lebanese sheikh who wanted to marry a Syrian girl. He will give you money, and he will also give that woman money, he told me. I slapped him, as usual, she recalled.
Sahar is a conservative Muslim. She wears a hijab, she dons an abaya, she goes to the mosque. I am a good girl, I am trustworthy. They feel they can trust me with that, she explains. If I agree to sell a girl, maybe some other woman would sell me against my will.
To read the article in its entirety, go to:
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/520916-marriages-of-shame
