One official source informed a colleague that when five women were able to escape on Good Friday and catch a van to South Beirut, one of the women who somehow had heard about the four Syrian refugee children thought she might know them and made their way to south Beirut and eventually the women were put in contact with police authorities who investigated and raided the old house known as "Chez Maurice''. Approximately 75 women and girls and an 8 month old child who was born in the brothel, because her mother hid her pregnancy until an abortion could not be done, were freed. According to the police, the women were imprisoned after arriving from their war-torn country, sold for less than $2,000, and forced to have sex more than 10 times a day. They were frequently beaten, tortured, given electric shocks and sometimes whipped if they didn't receive enough tips. The windows and balconies were barred and windows painted black, depriving the women of any sunlight. The women left the house only to get abortions, of which they had about 200, according to police investigators. They also left to be treated for venereal diseases, contracted after being forced to have unprotected sex with customers, or to be treated for skin ailments, brought on by their lack of exposure to the sun. The women would sometimes work for up to 20 hours a day, from 10am until 6am the following morning.
The Internal Security Forces is reportedly conducting an internal investigation to determine how the network managed to escape detection for so long since locals report that it had been in operation for years and reportedly hosted government officials. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt has repeatedly accused unnamed senior government officials of complicity in the operation but the promised government investigation appears to have stalled for some unexplained reason and like countless other corruption cases that involve public officials here, the matter remains "under investigation" and out of the news.
But the five dozen girls and woman are freed and are receiving needed care.
The observer credits the four Syrian refugee children and the public's concern for their well-being with leading to the exposure and closing down the Jounieh sex slave operation.
Legal Ban on the Sale of Beirut's only Public Beach
Another public benefit achieved by the 4 Syrian refugee children relates to Ramlet el Baida beach strip itself.
(photo: fplamb)
The above photo shows Ramlet el Baida, Beirut's only free beach. It is an excellent mile long stretch and is frequented mainly by South Beirut's poor Shia, Syrian, Kurdish, Iraqi, Yazed, and Palestinian refugees as well as low paid foreign workers.
Public access has been threatened with closure for several years because many of the high priced apartment dwellers opposite the beach want exclusive use. Even though many of the apartments are currently empty, two large developers are seeking to build luxury hotels and more apartment buildings at the seas edge while closing Ramlet el Baida to public use.
(photo: fplamb)
Dumping their sewage directly into the Mediterranean sea from their high-rise luxury apartments across the road, many of the rich occupants and probably all of the developers seek to close Ramlet el Baida beach and rid themselves of the "rabble" including no-account Americans like this observer who frequent the beach and whose presence one developer told the media "fouls the residents view of the sea and its glorious sunsets."
But at least for now the beach will remain public per last month's order of Beirut Municipality. A humanitarian decision partly inspired, it is believed, by the saga of the 4 bought" homeless Syrian refugee children and the public concern and discussion it resulted in.
On 5/3/2016 Beirut Governor Ziad Chebib approved a request to ban the sale of Ramlet al-Baida beach that was in danger of being fenced off from the public by private developers. His decision approves a request by the Public Works Ministry to prohibit the sale of the area and affirm that Ramlet el Baida beach cannot be bought or sold according to Order 144, issued in 1925 under the French mandate. Article 2 of Order 144 listed properties that should belong to the public, and included the "sea's shore until the farthest area reached by waves during winter, as well as sand and rock shores." However, Article 3 did grant those, who owned parts of coastal properties before the decision was issued, the right to use them for commercial purposes. If the state was to prevent such use of these properties to safeguard public interest, it ought to pay "fair compensations in advance," the decision said. In 1966, another decree was issued to allow owners to build on their properties if their plans were approved by the Lebanese government and served touristic or industrial purposes.
The Beirut municipality's important decision means that one mile long Ramlet el Baida beach will remain open to all without charge. Refugees and low income Lebanese who cannot afford the high prices demanded by Beirut's other "private" beaches, some of which illegally deny entrance to foreign domestic workers and certain refugees.
The municipality of Beirut has been lobbied for some time by environmentalist and civil society NGOs to keep it public. The publicity over the 4 Syrian refugee children who were "sold" at Ramlet el Baida and other information provided to Beirut's Municipal Council is believed to have tipped the scales.
As noted above, this observer credits the 4 Syrian refugee children and the concern over their well-being with influencing Beirut Governor Ziad Chebib's humanitarian decision.
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