“They paid me €20-40. I was forced to do that because I needed the money,” says Ahmad (name changed), a 21-year-old Afghan refugee. By “they”, he meant German men who paid him in Munich for having sex with them. Ever since the refugee crisis hit the headlines a few years ago, reports have been appearing from different European countries, describing how refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Iraq have landed into prostitution. Many of them are teenagers doing sex work to support families back home.

Historically, the sex trade has been connected to the refugee movement. Of late, it has forced young men from West Asia and the other parts of the continent living in Europe to become involved. Refugees, both men and women, are a vulnerable lot and can be exploited easily. Ahmad’s first stop in Europe was Athens, where the business of prostitution among refugees was already booming. “I was disgusted when I even heard about these things,” he remembers.

However, when the Afghan, still a minor, entered Germany through the so-called Balkan route, he witnessed a different reality. “Everything was expensive. I didn’t have money and wasn’t allowed to work. Besides, I had to support my family somehow,” he says.

One night, as he walked through Munich’s well-known “gay quarter”, he was approached by an older man who asked him for a cigarette. “He immediately knew that I was a refugee,” Ahmad recalls. After a brief chat, the old man asked Ahmad to accompany him home. He agreed and after a few drinks at the man’s place, they had sex. “At the end of it, he gave me €20 and a packet of cigarettes. That’s how it started,” the Afghan says.

Ahmad began regularly visiting areas known as meeting points for male prostitutes and their suitors. “Many of them had a lot of money. But I often felt that they considered people like me as dirt. We were just good for 30 minutes of sex,” he says. Ahmad talks about his experience with a deep sense of shame. As an Afghan and a Muslim, he says, he does not ever want his family to know what he has done. According to Said Ali, 29, another Afghan refugee who once lived in Munich and Berlin, many of his young countrymen are involved in prostitution. “It’s not like it happens with women, but it’s a similar exploitation. White, rich men are are taking advantage of our people’s situation and are luring them with money,” he told this writer.

Trapped by addiction

According to recent reports, Berlin has become a sex trade hub that exploits unaccompanied, minor refugees. Street workers describe how the number of sex workers has seen a huge increase of late. Many young refugees selling their bodies are not aware of the dangers of HIV infections or other sexual diseases. Additionally, many have turned into drug addicts, becoming part of a deadly cycle they cannot escape. “Many of them have become dependent and need the money to buy drugs,” one street worker said.

Ahmad knows similar stories. “They [the refugees] wanted to send money to their families but ended up becoming drug addicts.” Many of them came to Europe with high hopes and expectations, with plans to join schools or universities so that they can get well-paying, respectable jobs. “I wanted to become a doctor or lawyer and bring my whole family to Germany,” Ahmed says. That said, he is now relieved that he doesn’t have to resort to prostitution any more. “At the moment, I’m just happy that I’m out of this business.” His request for asylum has been accepted. He now works at a restaurant as a waiter and attends evening classes. “Education is everything. If you don’t realise that you are doomed, especially in Europe,” he says.

(Emran Feroz is a freelance journalist based in Stuttgart, Germany)