Rape and child abuse 'are rife in German refugee camps': Unsegregated conditions blamed as women are 'seen as fair game' in overcrowded migrant centres
- Details
- Category: Rape refugees
- Created: Friday, 25 September 2015 22:16
- Written by Allan Hall - MailOnline
Unsegregated conditions blamed as women are 'seen as fair game' in overcrowded migrant centres
- Abuses said to be taking place among 5,000 migrants at camp in Giessen
- Fear the number of unreported rapes and sexual assaults is significant
- It may be taking place at overcrowded refugee centres across the country
A culture of rape and sexual abuse is being allowed to take hold in asylum centres across Germany as Europe struggles to cope with the migrant crisis, it has been alleged,
Women’s rights groups and politicians have highlighted assaults against women and children in at least one camp.
And they suggest such incidents may be widespread, with many going unreported to the police.
Campaigners also claimed some men saw unaccompanied women as ‘fair game’, and also blamed conditions in which occupants were unsegregated by gender or nationality.
Allegations: A culture of rape and sexual abuse is being allowed to take hold in asylum centres across Germany as Europe struggles to cope with the migrant crisis
The warnings came after German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this month announced there was ‘no limit’ to the numbers of migrants her country would take.
Germany is expected to receive up to one million migrants this year and has since imposed temporary border controls.
But some cities have been struggling to cope with the influx, reporting intolerable pressures on housing and too few staff to process asylum claims.
And other EU countries have accused Germany of encouraging the crisis – then trying to resettle migrants in other EU countries under a quota system.
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Makeshift centres in Germany have seen men, women and children having to sleep next to each other in tents, halls and corridors. Showers and toilets are often not separated by gender, and some do not even have a curtain for privacy.
In the case highlighted yesterday, around 5,000 asylum seekers have been crammed into old US military bases in Giessen, western Germany. A letter addressed to the Minister of Integration and Social Affairs in the state of Hesse, where the centre is based, from four women’s organisations described a ‘culture of rape and violence’.
The letter, written on August 18, stated: ‘It is a fact that women and children are unprotected. This situation is opportune to those men who already regard women as their inferior and treat unaccompanied women as “fair game”. As a consequence, there are reports of numerous rapes, sexual assaults and increasingly of forced prostitution. These are not isolated incidents.’
There are fears the number of unreported cases of rape and sexual assault at the Geissen camp is significant.
Women were often too afraid to walk around the camp even during the day, volunteers claimed, while some victims are too terrified to report sexual assaults by the men.
A police spokesman said there were ‘probably’ many unreported sexual abuses. Giessen City Councillor Astrid Eibelshaeuser said: ‘We know there is rape happening.’
Johannes-Wilhelm Roerig, the federal commissioner for child sexual abuse issues, said: ‘I am most concerned that refugee children in camps, gymnasiums, or former barracks are not sufficiently protected from sexual assault.’
Campaign group Women For Refugee Women said the solution was to integrate genuine refugees as quickly as possible into society to remove them from the risks of overcrowded conditions. Its director Natasha Walter said: ‘People should not be in detention centres, they should be in the community where they can avail themselves of the normal protections given to citizens by the authorities.’
Hungary has started to roll out barbed wire along its border with Slovenia to keep refugees out.
This is the first such known measure to take place between countries belonging to the Schengen zone.
It has already set up barriers along its frontiers with Serbia and Croatia.
BEWARE BACKLASH BY FAR-RIGHT, SAYS BRUSSELS CHIEF
Europe risks a surge in far-Right extremism unless it can stop the unchecked influx of millions of migrants, a senior Brussels official warned last night.
European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans spoke as plans were announced for holding camps to be set up in Greece and Italy by the end of November to check whether arrivals are legitimate asylum seekers.
Those who are identified as economic migrants not entitled to international protection will be returned to their home countries.
According to EU figures, in the first seven months of this year 252,000 people illegally crossed into Greece and Italy, but only 85,000 were properly registered and fingerprinted as they should be under EU rules.
Mr Timmermans told BBC radio: ‘We have to make sure that those countries where people arrive are better placed to make sure people are registered, that people who don’t have the right to asylum are returned swiftly.
‘If we’re not able to tackle this issue, if we’re not able to find sustainable solutions, you will see a surge of the extreme right across the European continent.’
His comments came after the EU leaders agreed to set up the EU-run quarantine centres and pledged at least one billion euros for Syrian refugees at a summit in Brussels.
Source : https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3247831/Rape-child-abuse-rife-overcrowded-asylum-centres-huge-surge-migrants-pushes-Germany-s-services-breaking-point-claim-womens-rights-groups-politicians.html
