The government’s repayment policy is an extension of its approach to British tourists or other citizens who get in trouble abroad and need help returning to the United Kingdom. The women’s families sent them there because they thought the women were too independent. Ayaan, 24, who had been at the institution for two years, said she signed a loan agreement on the day she was rescued. “I was left to fend for myself,” she told The Times of London. “It’s an example of this general policy of pushing costs onto the people who have incurred the misfortune, which drives a cycle of increased vulnerability,” she said.

Source: New York Times January 02, 2019 19:30 UTC