Munich: Diakonie warns of human traffickers – Munich

They have been through hell – bombings in houses and clinics, they had to leave their husbands and relatives behind in the war and fled west. The flight from Ukraine and the memories of their devastated homeland have traumatized many.

In the past few weeks, far more than 23,000 people from the war zones have arrived in Munich, abroad. They are usually warmly welcomed. Thousands of volunteers, aid organizations and private individuals support the often young women and their children.

But the Diakonie now urgently warns that they can become victims of human traffickers, abuse, exploitation and forced prostitution in the supposed safety. “Women who come to a foreign country from a crisis situation are often helpless and desperate and therefore particularly at risk,” said Maria Loheide, the socio-political director of Diakonie Germany, at a press conference in Munich on Wednesday.

Especially in this acute situation, she calls for separate, protected areas for women to be set up, especially at the major arrival stations for refugees such as Munich and Berlin. So far, Munich has had the Caritas arrival area, where the refugees can get information but cannot rest or be cared for. “Specialized advice is needed here,” demands Loheide.

A high police presence, especially at the train station, is important to protect those arriving from human traffickers. The welfare organizations are aware that exploitation and forced prostitution are likely to take place primarily in the private sphere. “We therefore hope and expect that everyone will be registered, including those in private accommodation,” says the federal board member of Caritas.

In Munich, those arriving are asked to register as soon as possible. But according to Isabel Schmidhuber from the Evangelisches Hilfswerk in Munich, “some of them still have to queue for a long time,” although the number of refugees seeking protection here has been falling for days. But it is also important that people who offer apartments for refugees are also registered. In this way, cases of abuse could be better prevented.

Since refugees from Ukraine do not have to register for the first 90 days after their arrival in Germany, it is completely unclear how many people from the war zone are in Munich in total. You can only count those who arrive by train at the main station, says Schmidhuber. But there are also many who come to the city with their own car or with buses or private aid organizations.

It is not known how many refugees from Ukraine have become victims of exploitation or forced prostitution since the outbreak of war. However, the specialist counseling center Jadwiga in Munich and the counseling centers Mimikry and Marikas, which specialize in prostitution, fear that the number of women from Ukraine who are exploited or who are forced into prostitution in their distress could rise sharply in the coming weeks.

Jadwiga recently published an information brochure, also in Ukrainian, which lists important safety instructions especially for women who are looking for private accommodation: The advice center advises, for example, to take a picture of the provider’s license plate number before getting in – and to send the picture to a person you trust . Anyone who is offered an apartment or a room should have their ID shown and write down their name and address. After all, the Ukrainian refugees have the right to register at this address and then receive financial help from the city.