Greece is an important transit country for Afghan, Middle Eastern and North African refugees trying to enter the European Union. At the height of the migration crisis in 2015, hundreds of thousands of people from these countries arrived in the Greek islands.

Migrant reception centers in Greece, particularly the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, remain badly overcrowded. Last week, the United Nations refugee agency expressed serious concerns that this had resulted in refugee women being harassed and sexually abused.

No protection

The Union of Solidarity of Afghan Migrants in Greece has confirmed to InfoMigrants that Afghan women are among those suffering sexual assault.

The organization’s Reza Ghulami says the refugees in the camps are living in tents, and there is no one to ensure their security. “In 2015 there were many cases [of sexual violence] among the Afghan refugee women,” Ghulami says.

“Two camps in which the women were raped a lot are closed. The Afghan refugee women are being raped by Afghans and other refugees,” he says.

The problem is compounded by the fact that many Afghan refugee women do not want to report rape and sexual violence to the authorities because of dishonor.

“In 2015 or 2016, an Afghan refugee woman who lived in a tent was raped by a number of men with a knife,” Reza Ghulami says. “The woman was married. We tried to report it to the authorities but she stopped us because [she feared a] ‘bad reputation’,” he says.

Call for Greece to act

The UNCHR reported last week that it had received information from more than 600 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in refugee camps.

The agency has urged the Athens government to reduce overcrowding and improve the living conditions in the centers.