Male Afghan evacuees trafficking child brides, girls they abused into US: Report
US officials are looking into reports that some might be taking undue advantage of the frantic evacuation of desperate Afghans from Kabul. As per the latest reports, older men were admitted together with young girls they claimed as 'brides' or otherwise sexually abused.
Reports reveal that US officials at intake centers in the United Arab Emirates and in Wisconsin have identified numerous incidents in which Afghan girls had been presented to authorities as the "wives" of much older men. Even though child marriage is not uncommon in Afghanistan, the US has strict policies against human trafficking including prosecutions for offenders and sanctions for countries that don't crack down on it.
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One internal document seen by The Associated Press says the State Department has sought "urgent guidance" from other agencies after purported child brides were brought to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. Another document, which was described to the AP by officials familiar with it, says Afghan girls at a transit site in Abu Dhabi have alleged they were raped by older men they were forced to marry in order to escape Afghanistan.
Reports say that the State Department had no immediate comment on the documents or the accuracy of the details. While officials say that they take all such allegations seriously, many of them are anecdotal and difficult to prove, especially amid the influx of Afghan evacuees at multiple locations in the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
According to an August 27 situation report sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad - as well as military command centers in Florida - potential issues involving young girls and older men are noted. Apparently, some of whom claim to have more than one wife at Fort McCoy, a 60,000-acre Army base in Wisconsin.
Relevant portions of the document titled 'Afghanistan Task Force SitRep No. 63,' were obtained by the publication. "Intake staff at Fort McCoy reported multiple cases of minor females who presented as `married´ to adult Afghan men, as well as polygamous families," the document says. "Department of State has requested urgent guidance."
There was no immediate indication from the military or from the departments of homeland security and health and human services, which run the facility, that such guidance had been received.
In the meanwhile, U.S. officials in the UAE have expressed similar concerns. In a diplomatic cable to Washington, they warned that some young Afghan girls had been forced into marriages in order to escape Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. Officials familiar with the cable say it describes allegations by several girls at the Humanitarian City in Abu Dhabi that they had been sexually assaulted by their 'husbands' and seeks guidance on how to handle such cases.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal communications.