Spanish police have arrested one man and identified others who are believed to be part of a North African gang who preyed on Ukrainian refugees travelling along Spanish highways after escaping the Russian invasion of their country.
The Spanish Civil Guard arrested a 47-year-old man — identified only by his initials RMJ — and identified another person as being behind at least eight thefts and three counts of damage to vehicles located in rest stops on Spanish highways. Both men are said to be part of a larger North African criminal gang.
The North African gang is said to target elderly travellers and foreigners in rest areas along the A-1, A-62 and AP7 highways and among their alleged victims was a family of Ukrainian refugees who were fleeing the conflict in their country, the newspaper La Razón reports.
The gang is said to have stolen the money and valuable items the Ukrainian refugees had managed to take with them to Spain after fleeing their country at a rest area on March 3rd along the AP-7 highway in Castellón after a group of five individuals offered to help them with a supposed flat tyre.
While one member of the group distracted the refugees, the other member of the gang stole €7,000 (£5,929/$7,758) in cash, jewellery, plane tickets, the key to their apartment in Ukraine and other possessions.
According to the newspaper, the gang purposely targetted foreigners who may be unfamiliar with the Spanish language and are less likely to pursue charges or attend criminal hearings.
In Switzerland, Ukrainian refugee women have also complained of poor treatment from other migrants in an asylum centre in Chevrilles.
“We don’t feel safe in this place. Impossible to leave your belongings in the room, thefts are commonplace. We have been here for a month, but we only got a translator yesterday. There is no school solution for children, left to their parents, who are themselves traumatized,” a Ukrainian refugee told Swiss newspaper Blick.
“We have sometimes been victims of racist violence by other refugees, in front of security agents who have remained like marble,” the refugee added.
The complaints echo similar concerns made by Ukrainian refugee women in Sweden, who claimed that men had attempted to break into their accommodation, including while one woman was sleeping with her two young children.
“[W]e are afraid still,” a Ukrainian refugee told Swedish media and added, “In Ukraine — I live in Ukraine — nobody knock to my door, never. They say [to] me that Swedish is too safe country, but I didn’t see it.”