Ukrainian 18-year-old ‘is gang-raped by two men’ on German hotel ship and male refugee is also raped

A teenage refugee fleeing war-torn Ukraine who was allegedly gang raped by two men on board a German hotel ship has now fled to Poland because she does not feel safe in Germany.

The 18-year-old woman was reportedly raped by one man after the other while living on the Oscar Wilde hotel ship in Düsseldorf, which is being used to house people fleeing Ukraine.  

The alleged assailants, aged 37 and 26, are from Iraq and Nigeria but also hold Ukrainian citizenship, Bild reported.

Police launched an investigation into the alleged assault which took place on March 6 and arrested the two men, who remain in custody, Düsseldorf prosecutor’s office confirmed on Monday.  

Another sex attack in Düsseldorf has been reported by a young Ukrainian man, who holds passports for both Ukraine and Morrocco, claiming to have been raped by two men.

The alleged victim who went to Germany to flee from Ukraine is being housed in the Messe Düsseldorf, an exhibition hall in the west-German city.

An 18-year-old Ukrainian refugee was was allegedly gang raped by two men on board a German hotel ship in Düsseldorf, which is being used to house people fleeing the Russia-waged war, has now fled to Poland because she does not feel safe in Germany (pictured, People from Ukraine queue for mobile phone cards in front of the central station in Berlin)

Another sex attack in Düsseldorf has been reported by a young Ukrainian man, who holds passports for both Ukraine and Morrocco, claiming to have been raped by two men. The alleged victim who went to Germany to flee from Ukraine is being housed in the Messe Düsseldorf, an exhibition hall in the west-German city (Pictured, refugees resting in a subway hall after fleeing from Ukraine at the main train station in Berlin)

 Another sex attack in Düsseldorf has been reported by a young Ukrainian man, who holds passports for both Ukraine and Morrocco, claiming to have been raped by two men. The alleged victim who went to Germany to flee from Ukraine is being housed in the Messe Düsseldorf, an exhibition hall in the west-German city (Pictured, refugees resting in a subway hall after fleeing from Ukraine at the main train station in Berlin)

He reported that he got a drink from the alleged perpetrators in the exhibition hall but remembers little for the rest of the evening. 

The Ukrainian man said he woke up with ‘severe pain and injuries’ in the genital area’, with traces of sexual abuse found on his body after inspection in a hospital.

The two men who were identified as suspects are reportedly holders of Ukrainian and Moroccan passports too.  

Alongside paying guests, more than 25 refugees were staying on the hotel ship at the time of alleged rape of the 18-year-old Ukrainian woman after fleeing the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine last month.    

Since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, more than three million people, including over one million children, have fled Ukraine for other states in Europe, according to the UN. 

Since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, more than three million people, including over one million children, have fled Ukraine for other states in Europe, according to the UN

Since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, more than three million people, including over one million children, have fled Ukraine for other states in Europe, according to the UN

It is almost entirely women and children making up the number who are fleeing across Ukraine’s borders and concerns are growing on how to protect the most vulnerable refugees from being targeted by human traffickers or becoming victims to other forms of exploitation. 

It is at least the second alleged rape of a teenage Ukrainian refugee after a man was arrested in Poland last week on suspicion of assaulting a 19-year-old who had fled the conflict.

A 49-year-old man was detained in Wroclaw, Poland, on Thursday after he allegedly lured the young woman in with the offer of help over the internet (pictured, people who left Ukraine rest in a temporary accommodation centre, in Korczowa, Poland)

A 49-year-old man was detained in Wroclaw, Poland, on Thursday after he allegedly lured the young woman in with the offer of help over the internet (pictured, people who left Ukraine rest in a temporary accommodation centre, in Korczowa, Poland)

People fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, receive food from volunteers at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland

People fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, receive food from volunteers at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland

It is almost entirely women and children making up the number who are fleeing across Ukraine's borders and concerns are growing on how to protect the most vulnerable refugees from being targeted by human traffickers or becoming victims to other forms of exploitation (Pictured, people fleeing Ukraine at temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland)

It is almost entirely women and children making up the number who are fleeing across Ukraine’s borders and concerns are growing on how to protect the most vulnerable refugees from being targeted by human traffickers or becoming victims to other forms of exploitation (Pictured, people fleeing Ukraine at temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland)

MP Andrea Lindholz told Bild that police must do more to ‘specifically ensure the protection of Ukrainian women by checking accommodation’ and warned the alleged rape on the Oscar Wilde means authorities must ‘act immediately’.   

A police spokesperson said: ‘Politicians should now do everything to ensure that such terrible cases of rape as on the hotel boat in Düsseldorf do not accumulate. 

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‘Harsh and swift punishment followed by deportation is the only language such perpetrators understand.’ 

A 49-year-old man was detained in Wroclaw, Poland, on Thursday after he allegedly lured the young woman in with the offer of help over the internet.

The suspect could face up to 12 years in prison for the ‘brutal crime,’ authorities said. ‘He met the girl by offering his help via an internet portal.’ 

‘She escaped from war-torn Ukraine, did not speak Polish. She trusted a man who promised to help and shelter her. Unfortunately, all this turned out to be deceitful manipulation.’

Another man at a refugee camp in Poland was overheard offering work and a room to a 16-year-old girl before authorities intervened.

At Poland’s Medyka border, another case at a refugee camp raised suspicions when a man was offering help only to women and children. 

‘Obviously all the refugees are women and children,’ said Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams, the UNHCR’s head of global communications, who has visited borders in Romania, Poland and Moldova.

‘You have to worry about any potential risks for trafficking – but also exploitation, and sexual exploitation and abuse. These are the kinds of situations that people like traffickers look to take advantage of,’ she said. 

In countries throughout Europe, including the border nations of Romania, Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia, private citizens and volunteers have been greeting and offering help to those whose lives have been shattered by war. 

Police in Berlin warned women and children in a post on social media in Ukrainian and Russian against accepting offers of overnight stays, and urged them to report anything suspicious.

Tamara Barnett, director of operations at the Human Trafficking Foundation, a UK-based charity which grew out of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking, said that such a rapid, mass displacement of people could be a ‘recipe for disaster.’

‘When you’ve suddenly got a huge cohort of really vulnerable people who need money and assistance immediately,’ she said. ‘It’s sort of a breeding ground for exploitative situations and sexual exploitation.

‘When I saw all these volunteers offering their houses, that flagged a worry in my head.’

Madalina Mocan, committee director at ProTECT, an organization that brings together 21 anti-trafficking groups, said there are ‘already worrying signs’, with some refugees being offered shelter in exchange for services such as cleaning and babysitting, which could lead to exploitation.  

‘There will be attempts of traffickers trying to take victims from Ukraine across the border.

‘Women and children are vulnerable, especially those that do not have connections – family, friends, other networks of support,’ she said, adding that continued conflict will mean ‘more and more vulnerable people’ reaching the borders. 

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