A man has been arrested in Poland on suspicion of raping a 19-year-old woman he lured to his home over the internet with offers of shelter after she fled Ukraine.
In an incident that has fuelled growing fears around the people trafficking and sexual exploitation as a result of Russia’s invasion, police in Wroclaw said they had detained the 49-year-old on rape charges.
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He 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,” police said.
“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.”
In another reported case in Poland, which has taken around 1.5 million refugees from neighbouring Ukraine, a man was overheard promising work and a room to a 16-year-old girl before authorities intervened.
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And a separate account from a refugee camp on Poland’s Medyka border emerged after suspicions were raised when a man was offering help only to women and children.
When questioned by police, he changed his story. But as millions of women and children flee across Ukraine’s borders in the face of Russian aggression, concerns are growing over how to protect the most vulnerable refugees from being targeted by human traffickers or becoming victims of other forms of exploitation.
“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.
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“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.
The UN refugee agency says more than 2.5 million people, including more than a million children, have already fled Ukraine in what has become an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Europe and its fastest exodus since the Second World War.
Photo Credit: Getty
