Migrant protection groups yesterday expressed concern about the disappearance from a hostel in Corinth of a 14-year-old Somalian girl, believed to have fallen into the clutches of sex traffickers.

Zaira Moza was sent to the Corinth hostel after arriving on Lesvos from neighboring Turkey earlier this month. A Somalian man, believed to be a trafficker, had tried to intercept the girl’s transfer, according to Zoe Leivadatou, head of a local support group for unaccompanied minors. “The Somalian, who had been the head of the smuggling ring, claimed to be her brother,” Leivadatou said.

Upon arrival at the hostel, the girl was found to have a mobile phone given to her by the suspected trafficker. The phone is believed to have contained instructions for how to get to Omonia Square in central Athens where she is now thought to be working as a prostitute.

Moza is one of thousands of underage female immigrants being “hijacked” by sex traffickers, migrant groups say.