Eritrean orthodox church in Rotterdam at centre of abuse alarm
The Dutch refugee settlement agency COA has told young asylum seekers not to attend services at the Eritrean orthodox church in Rotterdam because of concerns they will be at risk of abuse, the Reformatorisch Dagblad
The Dutch refugee settlement agency COA has told young asylum seekers not to attend services at the Eritrean orthodox church in Rotterdam because of concerns they will be at risk of abuse, the Reformatorisch Dagblad says on Monday.
The organisation says it is has been made aware that young women may be being abused within the church community and that a large number of Eritrean girls have become pregnant.
There is reason to connect the church to the pregnancies and some of the girls may have been forced into having sex, the paper quotes the COA as saying. According to the paper, as many as 22 girls under the age of 18 may have become pregnant, a figure which the COA has not confirmed.
Vulnerable
‘We have been given evidence by staff, the refugee agency Vluchtelingenwerk and the guardianship agency Nidos,’ the spokesman said. ‘Young refugee minors are extremely vulnerable.We have informed the police and human trafficking expertise centre.’
There have been a number of ‘serious’ cases, the spokesman said. The girls are now being advised not to attend the services and can be banned from doing so by their guardians.
A spokesman for the church authorities, Teklit Girmazion, told the Reformatorisch Dagblad that he is shocked by the allegations. The church no longer allows people to visit overnight following complaints from locals, he said. While some youngsters do stay with other church members, he has no evidence they are being abused, Girmazion said.
DutchNews.nl: Eritrean orthodox church in Rotterdam at centre of abuse alarm
Kamal Abdu January 14, 2016
Instead of throwing stones to each other and inflicting more damages to the already hurt victims.let´s show compassion and solidarity to the victims regardless whom the perpetrators are.Some day the offenders will brought to justes and the truth will prevail.I wish all offended sisters stay strong.
hailino January 14, 2016
Well said Kamal!!!
habesha January 14, 2016
For how long we keep blaming HGDEF and Isias and letting those criminals escaping punishment. We know our sole enemy HGDEF, Isias and his criminal foot soldiers have done everything to degrade, tarnish our culture, custom and religion but have we fought back in the language they can understand? Please point the finger at our failure and note at the evil HGDEF and its robotic soldiers since they are programmed to do so. Those criminals who blackmailed the girls to have sex with them uses many tactics such as : they will get them permanent residence, they portray themselves as representative of local government agency or have good contact with immigration. Basically they tell the desperate, vulnerable girls from ready to believe anything what they want to hear and the criminals get what they wanted. It is Eritrean social pandemic and we need to counter react and expose their lies and inform, educate our young girls if they are willing to hear giving that most girls are stubborn if you tell them the truth that they do not want to hear. In this case it is our good women need to play a big role to convince these stubborn women that they are being fooled.
Tesfit January 14, 2016
If the allegation is true and crime was committed, the animals must be harshly punished. The women are not faultless either. They are not in Eritrea where there is no law. They are in a law respecting country. There is no excuse for them to get abused and not say anything. If this was done against their will, they should have reported to police. Nothing is more important than their safety. No excuse!!
Abate January 14, 2016
Give me a break, do u know the dutch are more abusive. Do u know that hundreds of dutch girls are raped and stay quietly without even reporting to law enforcement bodies? How can u hold accountable innocent Eritreans for not saying anything about the abusers. Please consult the home office of the Netherlands and research the crime rate on dutch girls including hitch hikers.
AHMED SALEH !!! January 15, 2016
Recent news about rape victims who were afraid to speak up all the past
years no to come forward for justice against favourable celebrity icon Bill Cosby is a good example of male chauvinism .
Society that tolerate sexual abuses doesn’t treat rape victim women fairly and that is why they prefer silence than face humiliation. Sad but true incidents .