A Dutch escort agency reports that during Ramadan their Muslim clientele increased threefold.
The Muslim clientele of Society Service usually makes up about 13%, several dozen a month. During Ramadan it went up to 40%.
Owner Marike explains that she goes by the names. A businessman from Egypt or the Emirates named 'Mohammed', where almost everybody is Muslim, is probably Muslim as well.
Though the agency is aimed at the Dutch market, most of its Muslim clients come from abroad. Marike says that escort agencies are illegal in many countries,and so people come to the Netherlands to do things they can't do at home.
Muslims are expected to abstain from food and sex during the day on Ramadan, but the supposed Muslims - businessman from Egypt, United Arab Emirates, India, Indonesia and Morocco staying in the big international hotels in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague - booked escorts throughout the day. According to one news report most clients come from Egypt, according to another, from the UAE.
"I think that they plan their business trips to be in the Netherlands during Ramadan. Otherwise I can't explain the increase," says the owner. She says she sees a similar mechanism with clients who come just when their wife is on vacation.
