All brothels in the country will be closed down in a 'systematic wav'. State Minister for Social Welfare Mozzamel Hossain has said.

The sex workers will be rehabilitated in phases after completion of six ‘shelter homes' in the divisional headquarters by the year 2000, he told The Daily Star yesterday.

The state minister, however, said 'at the moment’ he could not give the number of sex workers in the country.

More than 100 sex workers have been rehabilitated after training them in the two existing shelter homes at Puball and Kashlmpur and more are undergoing training, he said.

Around 4000 inmates of Tanbazar and Nimtoli brothels in Narayanganj were evicted by the authorities on July 22 this year. Of them, only 289 were taken to the shelter homes and many were later released from there because of agitation by them, sources concerned pointed out.

Sanghati. a coalition of 86 NGOs, on Thursday called upon the government to make known the measures taken so far for rehabilitation of the evicted sex workers.

Asked about this, the state

minister said that they were not interested in publicity of the rehabilitation activities. "We do not go for publicity to protect the social life of those rehabilitated."

Sanghati also put forward a four-point demand which include compensation to the evicted sex workers and allowing them to return to their 'houses'.

It alleged that the organisations involved in the rehabilitation process were misappropriating UNDP funds for this.

The state minister brushed aside the allegation.

In reply to a question, he said a motivation programme would be undertaken before sending the sex workers to shelter homes and those already rehabilitated would be engaged in motivating others.

It is not possible to send the evicted inmates back to the brothels which are ‘torture cells’, he added.

Asked why they were evicted, the state minister said. "In a democratic country, we can't allow this sort of inhuman torture."

He. went on. "Many inmates were brutally killed in brothels at different times but none dared to seek justice for them".