Syria's civil conflict continues to rage and spill over into Lebanon like an infection with no suitable treatment, and some Syrian women with little way out have turned to prostitution rings as a way to earn money. But the truth is much more complicated. When he saw me, he got nervous and told me to wait in the car for "10 more minutes" before sending my fixer to slip me in unnoticed.
Europe is failing refugees from Syria. Read more here. At the bottom of the dark stairs, Hassan sat in a leather booth waiting for me. He smiled wearily and took a long drag of his cigarette.
In friendly Lebanese fashion, Hassan offered espresso and said he would answer background questions while setting up the interview. He said he would later bring us a Syrian girl, one of his girls, who would tell us anything we wanted to know. Hassan then denied having any Syrians who worked for him, there were only four Europeans, he said, and it was against the law to have Syrian girls in the club.
It would take four days for him to set up a talk with one of his employees, after dodging phone calls and pushing interview times late into the night when they were expected to work. Hassan has been a pimp and worked in the super nightclub scene for 45 years. While he admitted he is illiterate, he said he is a savvy businessman and knows how to deliver to his customers.
He said they pay him, in fact, they will give him anything, because they know he can deliver. Farah smiled weakly and her brown eyes, shaped by blue eyeliner and exhaustion, shifted in every direction. She wore a blue off-the-shoulder T-shirt and ripped jeans. Her shoes were torn apart and she kept an eye on her small Nokia phone, as if she was expecting clients. But Farah did as Hassan told her to do, following him across the street to a dirt road among the trees, a place he called a "garden.
