Chinese sex workers find their way to Kabul

By Tan Ee Lyn and Jonathon Burch

KABUL (Reuters) - Wazir Akbar Khan, with its two-storey houses, balconies and walled gardens is regarded as one of Kabul's more 'upmarket' districts and is home to many of the foreign embassies and aid agencies based in Afghanistan.

But behind some of the district's compound walls lies a 'seedy' side to the city; Kabul's Chinese brothels.

Hidden behind unmarked gates, a surveillance camera and a handful of customers' jeeps parked outside are the only signs of the brothels' location.

Inside over a dozen Chinese women dressed in mini-skirts and heavy makeup sit and chat, while foreign men sidle up to them. Conversation is halting with both sides mustering what little English they can manage.

"There are 200 of us here in Kabul, we don't go out much. It's not safe," said a female bartender from northern China who asked not to be named.

"I've been here for two years, the money is okay. We stay indoors. We don't go out. We don't get into any trouble."

It is illegal for foreigners to work without permits in Afghanistan and these Chinese sex workers face deportation if they are caught working.

Prostitution is also illegal in Afghanistan and from time-to-time brothels are raided and closed down.