He appeared via video in court on Monday, and was seen covering his face with his hand as details of his offences were read out in court.Ī woman believed to be related to him was also seen crying in the public gallery. It was not revealed in court how the man's offences had come to light. The boys had agreed to the sex acts, but one of them had later cut off communication with the man. The court heard that the man became friends with the victims through other mutual friends and they shared common interests such as fishing, e-biking and cycling. Two of the victims were aged 12 at the time, and the third was 13 years old.Ī fourth victim was not involved in any sex acts with the man, but had received an obscene photograph from him.
These included other charges of sexual penetration, sexual exploitation of a child and sending obscene images to a child.įrom mid-2018 to end-2019, the man, who was a part-time deliveryman, had performed sex acts with three victims at various locations more than 20 times, including staircase landings and a public toilet. The 21-year-old, who cannot be named as he was friends with the victims, pleaded guilty on Monday (June 28) to four charges of sexual penetration of a minor under the age of 16.Īnother 28 charges were taken into consideration. This means that the only way for Afghans to reach countries like Germany or Sweden quickly is to pay high fees to hire smugglers.A man with borderline intelligence was jailed for 42 months for performing sex acts on young boys. Moreover, several of Greece’s neighbours, including Macedonia and Serbia, have closed their borders to Afghans. Because only 63% of claims from Afghans are approved on average, people from Afghanistan don’t qualify for this programme. However, the only people eligible are asylum seekers from countries like Syria or Iraq where 75% of EU asylum claims submitted by its nationals receive positive responses. These careless practices put many lives in danger.Īs a way to share the burden of having so many refugees, the European Union now has a quota system, which means that asylum seekers who enter Greece could be moved to another country. Sometimes, clients don’t use condoms simply because they don’t care about these young people. He had no idea if he had contracted the virus during a sexual relation or while using drugs. He had no idea what his diagnosis meant - he had never heard of AIDS. One day, I translated for a young Pakistani man who had just tested positive for HIV. I sometimes work as an interpreter at the local hospital. I don’t know the nationality of their clients but almost all of them speak Greek and most of them are much older than the boys. These young people have no adequate shelter and no way of making money and, ultimately, they are just left to fend for themselves as best they can.Īt best, these young people are paid €50 per client, sometimes less than €10. They also don’t get any governmental aid. Some of the problem comes from the fact that Afghan refugees face a lot of discrimination. They are living in tents in refugee camps and they don’t have any other work. These young boys are in a desperate situation. When people are just trying to survive and to fulfil their most basic needs, they are capable of doing all kinds of things. He sees Afghan refugees on a daily basis. works with a humanitarian orgranisation based in Athens. "The clients don’t care about these boys”Ali A. Sometimes, the actual act is carried out at the client’s house but, more often than not, the boys end up just going into the bushes with their client. Every night, several dozen young men congregate in Victoria park, Pedion tou Areos park and on the Omonia Square to sell themselves. Migrants of all ages also face widespread discrimination.īecause they have no access to the labour market, many end up having to turn to illegal trades, such as prostitution, to survive. With no source of income, most end up living in tent cities with no hot water or electricity. Their young age - some of them are barely 15 - makes them especially vulnerable in already precarious conditions. Most of the young migrants you see in these public squares are Afghan and some are very young. Despite the continuing efforts of numerous NGOs, some young migrants - especially unaccompanied minors - find themselves caught up in illegal trades, including drugs, human trafficking and, most frequently, prostitution. It’s almost impossible for them to find work or decent housing, so they while away their days in public spaces. Town squares and parks in Athens, Greece, are filled with migrants who idle there, trapped in limbo between Turkey and Europe.