Philenews

Netherlands: Students Suffered Years of Sexual Abuse by Refugees in Shared Housing

Published January 16, 2026, 17:13
Netherlands: Students Suffered Years of Sexual Abuse by Refugees in Shared Housing

In the Netherlands, 125 female students experienced sexual abuse and violence at the hands of 100 refugees they were forced to live with in a building in Amsterdam for five years, starting in 2019. The co-living program was proposed as a solution to both the housing shortage and refugee integration, with the expectation that refugees would adopt the Dutch way of life more quickly. However, according to an investigation, the students suffered multiple sexual assaults, harassment, violence, and even gang rape. The victims' complaints were repeatedly ignored by the authorities, despite their continued efforts to report the incidents. A striking example is the case of a woman who was sexually assaulted by a Syrian refugee, with the police filing the case due to lack of evidence.