BERLIN (REUTERS) – The metropolis of Berlin has warned Ukrainian refugees to not settle for provides of cash or lodging on the primary practice station resulting from considerations that they could be lured into pressured prostitution or different types of human trafficking.
“Please note that there may be criminals on the move at Berlin central station who want to profit from the situation of war refugees,” the Berlin authorities mentioned on the web site it has arrange for refugees from Ukraine.
Police indicators in German, Ukrainian and Russian are displayed on the station, warning ladies and younger folks travelling alone to not settle for suspicious provides of assist.
There was no any concrete proof to this point of refugees being tricked into pressured prostitution or saved in opposition to their will, a police spokesperson mentioned.
When the primary refugees began arriving from Ukraine earlier this month, many Germans flocked to the practice station to ask them to their houses. The inside ministry mentioned 300,000 personal houses had been supplied nationwide by final Thursday.
But the authorities at the moment are advising folks with a spare room to register their assistance on coordinated web sites as an alternative of approaching refugees on arrival.
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Dozens of volunteers saying which languages they communicate are serving to on the station, recalling scenes from 2015, when greater than one million folks from the Middle East fled to Europe and Germany took within the bulk of newcomers.
The police, who’ve elevated the variety of officers on obligation on the station, together with these undercover, are asking volunteers to report any suspicious folks providing cash to host ladies and kids.
International humanitarian organisations like World Vision have warned that the struggle in Ukraine dangers growing the possibilities of human trafficking.
“The variety of ladies who’re liable to traffickers capitalising on their vulnerabilities is rising exponentially.
This may very well be carried out by means of fraudulent journey and/or employment preparations,” mentioned World Vision Middle East and Eastern Europe Regional Leader Eleanor Monbiot.
