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Iraqi human trafficking victim finds refuge in Canada
by Scott Gilbreath ~ January 2nd, 2009
A 17-year-old Iraqi girl who has been abused and exploited for much of her young life celebrated a very happy new year in Canada.
From a report by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHRC), datelined 31 December:
For any refugee, the chance to begin a new life in Canada is a coveted prize. But for Hiba [not her real name], wearing a huge smile as she approaches the departure gate at Damascus airport, the plane she’s about to board means leaving behind the unimaginable horror of rape, exploitation, human trafficking and prison – a lifetime of torment lived by the age of 17.
Hiba’s fate seemed to have been sealed when her mother left her with her father in Baghdad when she was just seven. When she was 15, he forced her into a mutaa marriage, or temporary marriage, with a cousin.
Under this traditional local custom, Hiba was informally married to her cousin for 48 hours, but he abandoned her after satisfying his lust. Her father refused to take her back.
Hiba’s father tricked her into going to Syria where, unbeknownst to her, he had sold her to a stranger who forced her into prostitution. When she became pregnant, she was tossed out on the streets of Damascus. She wound up in a rehabilitation centre for minors and then came to the attention of the UN Refugee Agency.
When the UNHRC sought a country to take Hiba in, Canada responded. That makes me proud to be a Canadian.
The story doesn’t specify anyone’s religion but mutaa, or temporary, marriage seems to be a custom unique to Islam. So, apparently, Hiba’s father is a Muslim.
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January 5th, 2009 at 06:18 PM
[...] IRAQI HUMAN TRAFFICKING victim finds refuge in Canada …. [...]