If all refugees and displaced people formed their own country, it would be the world’s 17th-largest nation.
“Every three seconds, someone is newly displaced in the world because of war, violence, and persecution,” World Mission’s Greg Kelley says.
Millions of women and children fleeing conflict make ideal targets for traffickers. Aid groups in Europe say pimps try to lure and deceive women fleeing the Ukraine crisis.
“At the end of the day, it’s about people making money, which is horrific when you think about how cheaply they (traffickers) treat humanity, and they prey on those who are most vulnerable,” Kelley says.
“You can’t find a better example [of vulnerable people] than those in a refugee or a displaced situation.”
The longer a crisis lasts, the more desperate people become. Whether it’s the Rohingya in Bangladesh or Afghan refugees in Pakistan, “families are so desperate they will sell their children,” Kelley says.
“They’re looking at the rest of their family saying, ‘If we sell this one child, it’s for the greater good because now the rest of my family can eat.’”
World Mission and its partners recently saved 80 Afghan girls from becoming one more trafficking statistic.
“They were educated, beautiful; they spoke multiple languages because they had access to education over these last 20 years. They were high-value commodities,” Kelley says.
“They were days away from being sold into the Middle East sex trafficking [ring]. [The girls’] families would have never seen them again; they would have been used, abused, and discarded.”
Pray Gospel workers can save more women and children from traffickers and introduce them to the hope of Jesus Christ.
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This story originally appeared at Mission Network News and is republished here with permission.