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
senay semere January 12, 2016
the Dieshis of the church belong to HiGDEF
abraha January 12, 2016
ohh is amazing verhal ,,who knows ,,,maar wel spannend!22 girls,,,
sara January 12, 2016
this is a serious issue, needs to investigate and it is important to see how the other churches also doing things. Not only there but also accross other countries too.
Concerned Eritrawi January 12, 2016
This is very strong accusation against a Church so the responsible people should be brought to justice. this is a county that has the rule of law.
ኣርዓዶም January 12, 2016
እዚ ሽግር እዚ ኣይተመርመረን እምበር፡ ኣብ ናይ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስትያን፡ ዝመጹ ደቒ ካልእ ሃይማኖት፡ ናኣብነት ፐንጤ፡ ኣብ`ቲ ህዝብን መንእሰያትን ብፍላይ ብዙሕ እጸያፊ ዘይንቡር የርእዩን ይዛረቡን ይጽሕፉን ኢዮም።
ገሊኦም ክኣ ሞ ነቲ ባህልና ማለት ነቲ ሕያውነትን ሕውነትን መዝሚዞም፡ ንትሕቲ ዕድመ ቖልዑ ከራኽሱን ክስዕሙን ኢኻ ትርኢ። እፍሊ ዘይተቐጽዑ ኣምሓራ፡ ንትሕቲ ዕድመ ቆልዑ ብፍላይ ንደቒ 8-17 ዝዕድሚኤን ቖልዑ ክጫረቑን ሕፍር ከይበሉ ክስዕሙን ኢኻ ትርኢ። ነቲ ስቕ ኢሉ ዝርኢ ሰብ ወይ ወላዲ መዝሚዞም ድማ፡ ንቐጻሊ የስሕትወንን ኣብዘይተደልየ፡ ጥንስን ካልእን ምስ በጽሓ ገዲፎመን ወይ ከምኡ ኢለን ክነብራ ይፈርድወን። በዚ መሰረት፡ ብፍላይ ኣብዚ ዘለናዮ ሃገር፡ ኣይተመርመረን እምበር፡ ትሕቲ ዕድመ ቖልዑ ቆልዑ ሓዚለን ክትርእን ቤት ክርስትያን ኣብ ክንዲ፡ ንመሳለሚ፡ ንመፋለጥን መጠማመትን ተጠቒሞም፡ ኣይመሳለሚ ኣይመእለይ ቖልዑ ገይረሞ ይርከቡ።
ስለዚ ወረስቲ ባህሉ መሲሎም ንመንእሰያትና ዘበላሽዉ ብዙሓት ስለዘለው፡ ኣብ ግዜ ደው ከተብልዎም ንምሕጸን።
Zeray January 12, 2016
I have serious doubt about this report. If it is true someone must come out and complain. This could be a smear campaign against religious people. I know the Orthodox church maybe a football for political discussions and divisions, but sexual abuse so far has been unthinkable. Further, people like Aradom above is accusing “Pente” for doing such immoral things. Again, the Pentecostals may not have a system of worship that you like or agree with but their churches are filled with dedicated and vibrant youngsters who are examples of morality not immorality. Let’s not demonize a group of people without providing tangible facts. We complain about prejudice and yet we become the king-pins of prejudice. Stop it!
Menghesha January 12, 2016
UN Cordell..or has the Chuck became a brothel…hmm
Zeray January 12, 2016
I have serious doubt about this report. If it is true someone must come out and complain. This could be a smear campaign against religious people. I know the Orthodox church maybe a football for political discussions and divisions, but sexual abuse so far has been unthinkable. Further, people like Aradom above is accusing “Pente” for doing such immoral things. Again, the Pentecostals may not have a system of worship that you like or agree with but their churches are filled with dedicated and vibrant youngsters who are examples of morality not immorality. Let’s not demonize a group of people without providing tangible facts. We complain about prejudice and yet we become the king-pins of prejudice. Stop it!
semere 2 January 13, 2016
Zeray
I agree with you. The writer has to substantiate the allegations. We have to be careful before rushing to conclusions when facts are missing. In our culture Holy people and places are still respected. Teenagers don’t need Church premises to engage with each other in romance. That HGDEF promotes free sex culture is obvious, but I have lots of reservations about using Church premises. Isolated cases may happen, but we can’t generalize to that extent.
bahru January 12, 2016
መራሒ ዘይብሉ ህዝቢ፥ ራእይ ዘጥፍአ ህዝቢ እዩ። ራእይ ዘይብሉ ድማ እዚ ንርእዮ ዘሎና ስድነት እዩ ዘስዕብ። ቤተክርስትያን ተዋህዶ ካብ 2000 ንደሓር ኣብ ታሪኽ እታ ቤተክርስትያን ተራእዩ ዘይፈልጥ ብዕልግናን ጥፍኣትን ክርአ ጀሚሩ ኣሎ። እዚ ድማ ቀንዲ ዕላማ ህግደፍ እዩ። እዚ ተግባር እዚ ካብ ህግደፍ ወጻኢ ማንም ክሕተተሉ ዝኽእል ኣካል የለን። ኣብ ልደት 2000 ኣብ ኣስመራ መካነ ሂወት መድሃነኣለም፥ ክልተ መእሰያት ለይቲ ኣብ ቤተክርስትያን ምስ ሰብ ተሓዊሶም ኮንዶም ክድርብዩ፥ በቶም ኣባላት ቤተክርስትያን እጅ ከፈንጅ ተታሒዞም፥ ዕላማ ስም እታ ቤተክርስትያን ንምድዋንን፥ ነቶም ከጥፍእዎም ዝምህዙሎም ዝነበሩ ደቂ እታ ቤተክርስቲያን ንምጥፋእን ዝይተማህዘ እዩ ነይሩ። እቶም ዝተረኽቡ ኣብ ሓሙሻይ መደበር ፖሊስ ከይበጽሑ ኣብ መገዲ ኣፋንዮሞም ፖሊስ። ስለዚ እዚ ጸይቂ እዚ ድማ መቐጸልታ ናቱ እዩ።
sahle January 12, 2016
እቲ ነገር ዓቢን ዘተሓሳስብን ከሎ አቀራርባኡ ግን ቁንጽልን ብዝኣክል መርትዖን ዘይተደገፈ ብምዃኑ ካልእ ዕላማ ከይህልዎ ዘጠራጥር እዩ:: ኣብ መብዛሕትአን ኣብያተ ክርስቲያናት ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሀዶ ከም ንርእዮ መንፈሳዊ ግልጋሎት ዝወሃብ ኩሉ ጊዜ ሰንበት ንግሆ ብዙሓት ኣመንቲ ኣብ ዝተረኽቡሉ ጊዜ እዩ:: ከምተን ካልኦት ኣብያተ ክርስቲያናት ናይ መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ትምህርቲ ብዘይካ ሰንበት እሞ ድማ ኣማሲኻ ምሃብ ዝተለምደ ኣይኮነን: ስለዚ ኣበይ ተራኺቦምዮም ነዚ እከይ ዝፍጽሙ ? ምናልባት ሓድ ሐደ ሰባት ኣብቲ ናይ ሰንበት መድብ ዝመጹ ንጸሎት ዘይኮነስ ምስ ኣዋልድ ክራኸቡ እንተኾይኑሞ ኣብኡ ብዝገበሩዎ ምፍላጥ ኣብ ግዳም ተቋጺሮም ነቲ ተግባር ዝፍጽሙ እንተኾይኖም ቤተ ክርስቲያን እትቆጻጸረሉ መገዲ ስለ ዘይብላ ከም ገበን ክቁጸረላ ዝግባእ ኣይመስለን::
ከምቲ ቅድም ክብል ዘስፈርኩዎ ቀንዲ ቁምነገሩ እቲ ዝቀረበ ውንጀላ ብትሕዝቶኡ ጸቢብ መብራህርሂ ዝጎደሉ ምናልባትውን ኮነ ኢልካ ሽም እታ ቤተ ክርስቲያን
ንምጽላም ዝቀረበ ክኸውን ስለ ዝኽእል: እቶም ኣብቲ ከባቢ እትርከቡ ውሉደ ተዋሕዶ ተኸታቲልኩም ነቲ ሓቂ ከም ዝወጽእ ክትገብሩ የተሓሳስብ::
ወስብሐት ለእግዚአብሔር
k.tewolde January 12, 2016
As long as HGDEF is in power,we are going to hear one horrible news after the other, this is the tip of the iceberg, as far as I am concerned HGDEF is the perpetrator,the country’s colossal meltdown is happening under their watch.Sick mother f……..ers!! Get your suicide vests on and and march in to GIBI, you don’t have nothing left, women are doing it next door.