Greece – Sexual Assaults on Children at Refugee Camps - TruePublica
Greece – Sexual Assaults on Children at Refugee Camps
This is an approximate transcript of a Sputnik phone interview on 14 August 2016, based on an article in The Guardian (13 August) about child abuse in a Greek refugee camp https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/13/child-refugees-sexually-assaulted-at-official-greek-camps?CMP=twt_gu .
The Guardian reports “Children as young as seven have been sexually assaulted in official European refugee camps, the Observer has
been told. The claims come as testimony emerges suggesting that some
camps are so unsafe that youngsters are too terrified to leave their
tents at night.” The article refers specifically to a government-run
camp at the outskirts of Thessaloniki, Greece, holding about 1,400
refugees, most of them Syrians. Aid organizations claim that “the level
of risk of sexual attack is so acute that women are too afraid to visit
the camp toilets alone at night.”
One volunteer serving at the camp, alleged that some young girls had
been effectively groomed by male gangs. He said an Iraqi family had to
be moved to emergency accommodation outside the camp after their
daughter was attacked. “The parents are still in disbelief over what
happened. A man from one of the ‘mafia’ groups asked their
seven-year-old daughter into their tent to play games on his phone and
then zipped up the tent. She came back with marks on her arms and neck.
Later the girl described how she was sexually abused. It has scarred a
seven-year-old child for life,”
