Moria director denies spike in child abuse at hotspot

The director of the Moria refugee reception and identification center on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesvos on Monday denied allegations of a spike in incidents of child abuse – including rape – at the notorious camp as “fake news.”

A Newsweek report published Saturday cited Medecins Sans Frontieres medical coordinator for Greece Dr Declan Barry as saying that the humanitarian group has received reports of 21 cases of sexual assault since May, with almost half the victims under the age of 18 and at least two as young as 5.

Moria director Yiannis Balbakakis told the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency that, based on information from forensic officials, the number of reported rape cases is “very small.”

He said camp authorities have followed due process with all incidents, reporting cases to the police and carrying out forensic examinations of abuse victims.

The MSF representative will be summoned by authorities over his claims, Balbakakis said.