ZIB2: Schallenberg strictly against the admission of Moria migrants into Austria – Politics –

Chancellor Schallenberg (ÖVP) spoke with Armin Wolf about the fire at the Moria camp on Wednesday night on “ZIB 2”. An emotional debate developed. The moderator repeatedly asked the Foreign Minister why Austria was not accepting refugees. He answered again and again with different explanations, but the same message: Austria did not want to accept people from there.

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg emphasized in ZIB2 that Greece would be supported locally, but no refugees would be accepted.

Even after the fire in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek Aegean island of Lesbos, the ÖVP stands firm and strictly rejects the admission of migrants from Greece. Austria wants to support Greece at the local level with all means. Interior Minister Karl Nehammer and Alexander Schallenberg (both ÖVP) said this before the Council of Ministers on Wednesday morning.

Austria’s position was the same as that of the Greek government. Nehammer and Schallenberg said they did not request the admission of migrants and did not expect them to do so. The ÖVP vehemently rejects the admission of refugees from EU countries at the external border.

Nehammer said he had spoken to his counterparts in Greece and was told that the fire had started and that rescuers had been obstructed and attacked. Those responsible must be clearly told: “Violence is not a means of entering Europe. Immigrants who are willing to use violence have no chance of asylum in Europe.” These people “deliberately caused the disaster and therefore endangered human life.”

Austria will not accept immigrants from Greece, Nehammer and Schallenberg said. Rather, they are concerned that Europe is sending the wrong signals. “Any movement outside the islands is being exploited by Turkey and the smugglers,” warned Nehammer, who had only visited Greece two weeks ago and had personally seen the situation on the Turkish border and in the refugee camps.

“Irregular immigrants must remain en masse in Greece.” Nehammer noted once again that Austria had taken in 4,000 women and children this year alone and had already achieved a lot.

“Our line remains unchanged,” Schallenberg said. “But we will provide aid locally and provide a million from the foreign disaster fund.” Greece “has not expressed any wish that we accept people.” The children would be taken from the island to the mainland and the rest would stay on Lesbos.

The statement of the Green Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler was very different: “The photos of Moria are deeply shocking,” he said on the sidelines of the Council of Ministers. It is “a requirement of humanity” that there is now EU support and that the camp be evacuated. When asked whether Austria should accept refugees from Greece, Gewessler replied that the Greens’ position was clear and that talks were taking place.

Green MP and foreign policy spokesperson Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic stressed that now help must be provided quickly and that the “misery” of the people in Moria is over. However, unlike NEOS, SPÖ or Wiener Grünen, as well as numerous aid organizations, they did not explicitly demand Austria’s admission.

In Austria, all aid organizations, in addition to Caritas, the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Diakonie or Volkshilfe, spoke out in favor of quick aid and the admission of refugees from Moria. MSF, Caritas and the Austrian Red Cross made an “urgent” appeal to the federal government. “We have repeatedly pointed out the dire situation on the Greek islands. The powder keg exploded last night,” said Margaretha Maleh, president of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Austria. “We can no longer look” and “What we need now is a corridor of humanity,” said a joint broadcast by the three organizations.

In several European cities, including Vienna, on Wednesday night under the slogan “We have space!” Demonstrations are held for the reception of refugees. A protest action under the slogan “This is Moria – This is murder” is scheduled for Friday night in the center of Vienna.

Initially, the nearly 13,000 people who were left homeless in the great fire in the Greek refugee camp of Moria are supposed to be housed in boats and tents. This was announced by the Greek migration minister, Notis Mitarakis, during a visit to the Aegean island. The camp caught fire Wednesday night and burned almost completely.

After his visit, Mitarakis warned the migrants not to break the law. “We’re not going to have that,” he said, looking at the fire. Based on initial findings, the Athens government assumes that some residents of the completely overcrowded camp started the fires themselves, out of fear of increasing corona cases and in protest against the quarantine that has therefore been imposed on the facility.

On Tuesday it was known that the number of infected people was 35, and Moria was cordoned off last week after the first case was known. Later, some migrants wanted to leave the field so as not to contract the virus. Some infected people and their contacts who were supposed to be in isolation, on the other hand, refused to leave the camp to be held in isolation, Greek media reported. Then riots broke out.

Hundreds of residents of the destroyed camp tried to flee on foot to the port of the island’s capital, Mytilene, overnight. However, they were detained by the police. Other refugees sought refuge in the hills around the burned camp. On Wednesday, thousands of refugees were sitting on the road from Moria to Mytilene. “What should we do now? Where can we go?” Asked Mahmut from Afghanistan.

The Migration Minister was able to confirm the only good news of the day for the moment: no people were injured, disappeared or killed in the fire. Conservative Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Nea Dimokratia) criticized on Wednesday the “attitude of some migrants”, who had put up all the signs of fire and then had prevented firefighters from putting out the great fire. “There can be no excuses for backlash due to health checks,” he said, referring to the corona cases and related evidence.

Mitsotakis emphasized that the fire had also shown that the situation could not continue like this. Greece needs the help of the other EU countries. The issue of refugee distribution has been a contentious issue for years and has yet to be resolved.

On behalf of the European Union, Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson initially promised quick help. It agreed to finance the immediate transfer and placement of the remaining 400 unaccompanied children and youth on the continent. Mitarakis confirmed that the youths should be picked up on Wednesday.

Other European countries, including Germany, France and Norway, also offered support to Greece. Oslo wants to host about 50 people. North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) declared that his state could accept up to 1,000 refugees from Moria. Other German federal states also made similar statements, but the Interior Ministry in Berlin has to agree. Although Germany has repeatedly relocated migrants in recent months, the fire is no reason to “question the previous legal system,” he said in Berlin.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned of conflicts between refugees and residents of Lesbos. Lesbos itself has around 85,000 inhabitants. They are now afraid of what will happen to the migrants, and also that the corona virus could spread uncontrollably, said East Lesbos Mayor Stratos Kytelis, the Greek state broadcaster ERT. There has always been tension in Moria, because of the Corona problem, the situation now literally exploded.