Lesbos: aid organizations report rape of small children in refugee camps

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After a fire in the »Moria« refugee camp, the refugees were relocated to a makeshift camp

Photo: Panagiotis Balaskas / dpa

At the beginning of the week, a three-year-old girl is said to have been raped in the makeshift refugee camp "Kara Tepe" on the Greek island of Lesbos.

The organization SOS Children's Villages made the suspected case public.

Accordingly, the child was found unconscious and bleeding in one of the washrooms on Monday, and investigations were ongoing.

The employee of another aid organization in the camp confirmed the incident to the German press agency in Athens.

"We are very upset," said Boris Breyer, spokesman for the SOS Children's Villages.

The camp was makeshiftly set up in September and warnings were repeatedly given of the "catastrophic conditions" and the dangers for children.

Kara Tepe was built after the original Moria camp was destroyed in a major fire in late summer.

At that time, around 10,000 asylum seekers and migrants became homeless overnight.

Around 7500 people currently live in Kara Tepe.

The supply situation and the hygienic conditions are completely inadequate and the atmosphere is extremely tense, said Breyer.

Even in the previous camp, Moria, there were repeated outbreaks of violence.

According to SOS Children's Villages, in response to the rape, the Greek government is said to have decided to relocate 200 people, mainly children and families, to another camp nearby.

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lmd / dpa