Two men accused of brutally raping a Ukrainian teenage refugee just minutes aparton board a German hotel ship appeared in court in Düsseldorf yesterday.
Tunisian Rachid B., 38, and Abdullahi A., 26, from Nigeria, are said to have assaulted the vulnerable 18-year-old Ukrainian as she returned to her room on March 6 from the dinner on the ship of the Oscar Wilde Hotel that is in the Rhine was docked. .
Rachid is believed to have followed the girl to her room before forcing his way through the door and attacking her in her own room.
Just ten minutes after Rachid fled the hut, the second alleged perpetrator stormed in and committed his own horrific act, the court heard.
Although the alleged rapes happened in quick succession, it is believed that the suspects did not know each other and there is no evidence of a joint plan between them, the Düsseldorf prosecutor’s office said.
Like the 18-year-old victim, both Rachid and Abdullahi fled Ukraine in the days after Russian tanks rolled across the border on February 24, entering Poland and Germany.
Keep the alleged perpetrators Ukrainian citizenship, Rachid B. studied as a dentist in Ukraine and Abdullahi studied computer science after graduating from high schools in their respective home countries.
Tunisian Rachid B., who studied as a dentist in Ukraine before fleeing to Germany before the war, hides his face as he appears in court after the alleged rape of an 18-year-old Ukrainian refugee
Just ten minutes after Rachid fled the hut, the second alleged perpetrator Abdullahi A. (pictured) is said to have stormed in and committed his own horrific act
The rapes are said to have taken place on March 6 in quick succession on board the Oscar Wilde hotel boat, moored in the Rhine.
The defendants were not given a chance to speak at the hearing on Wednesday and simply stood before court officials while their history and details of the case were read.
If found guilty, Rachid and Abdullahi face a long prison term and deportation.
The Ukrainian victim, meanwhile, did not appear in court due to a positive Covid test, according to picture.
mMore than 25 refugees were staying on the hotel ship alongside paying guests at the time of the alleged incident after fleeing the invasion of Ukraine.
MP Andrea Lindholz told Bild that police must do more to “specifically ensure the protection of Ukrainian women by monitoring housing” and warned that the alleged rape of the Oscar Wilde means authorities must “act immediately”.
A police spokesman said: ‘Politicians must now do everything they can to ensure that such terrible rape cases as on the hotel boat in Düsseldorf do not pile up.
“Hard and swift punishment followed by deportation is the only language such perpetrators understand.”
According to Frontex, the EU Border and Coast Guard Agency, about 6.5 million Ukrainians have entered the EU since February, pouring into neighboring countries such as Poland and some migrating further west.
About half have since returned to Ukraine, but up to 3 million Ukrainian refugees still live across Europe, many of whom are women and children who feel particularly vulnerable.
Ukrainian refugees queue up for food in the reception area after they arrive at the main train station in Berlin, Germany, March 8, 2022
According to Frontex, the EU Border and Coast Guard Agency (refugees pictured in Berlin, March 24), about 6.5 million Ukrainians have entered the EU since February. More than 3 million have returned to Ukraine, but there are now huge numbers of vulnerable women and children scattered across Europe
“It is clear that all refugees are women and children,” said Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams, UNHCR’s head of global communications, warning that such a flow of vulnerable refugees creates ideal conditions for predatory individuals and people smugglers.
‘You have to be concerned about possible risks for human trafficking, but also about exploitation and sexual exploitation and abuse. These are the kinds of situations that people like traffickers want to take advantage of,” she said.
Tamara Barnett, director of operations at the Human Trafficking Foundation, a UK-based charity that grew out of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking, said the exodus of mostly female and child refugees from Ukraine was a “recipe for disaster”.
“When you suddenly have a huge cohort of really vulnerable people who need money and help immediately, that’s kind of a breeding ground for exploitative situations and sexual exploitation,” she said.