Refugee children in Greece camps sexually assaulted

Children as young as seven years old have been sexually assaulted in official European refugee camps in Greece, the Observer reported on Sunday.

The claims emerged after charities and human rights groups purported that children stranded in safe camps in Greece that were built to deal with the influx of refugees and asylum-seekers entering the country from neighbouring Turkey suffered sexual abuse. The report also claimed that the some camps are so unfafe that youngsters are too terrified to leave their camps at night.

The risk of sexual attack is so acute that women are too afraid to visit the camp toilets alone at night, aid organisations said.

In one of the camps - a former Softex toilet roll factory on the outskirts of Thessaloniki housing more than 1,400 mostly Syrian refugees - it was claimed that some young girls had fallen victim to fgrooming by male gangs.

"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,” said the volunteer, who asked to remain anonymous.

Following the assult, an Iraqi family had to be moved to emergency accommodation outside the camp after their daughter was attacked. Family members were so demoralised they were planning to abandon their dream of resettling into EUrope and return to the country they had fled, the volunteer said.

Calling for immediate action to protect vulnerable chidlren, chairwoman of Labour’s refugee taskforce Yvette Cooper said the revelations "should shame us all."

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies member Anita Dullard said there had been a rise in incidents of sexual violence in Greece’s refugee camps, which have alerted the government.

“We’ve been forwarding alleged incidents of sexual violence against women and children to the UN,” Dullard said.

On Médecins Sans Frontières’ end, Anna Chiara Nava confirmed that they had heard allegations of children being victims of sexual violence.

“We were in regular contact with at least 10 women from the Softex camp who had complained of sexual violence. Many of the occupants, including, were too afraid to speak out” she said.

“It’s really hard for the unaccompanied minors – 16- and 17-years-olds – to survive. It’s the survival of the fittest in there. In the evening and night it’s impossible to find the children because they are hiding in the tents. The women are afraid. They complain that during the night and evening they cannot go to the toilet alone. They have all heard of reports of others being attacked,” Nava acknowledged.