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Greek police arrested five suspected arsonists who reportedly set the Moria camp on fire last week.
After the fire in the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, more than 12,000 refugees lost their homes. Several European countries have agreed to accept some of the refugees.
Greek security forces arrested five suspected arsonists who reportedly set fire to the Moria registration camp last week. “The arsonists have been arrested. They are young immigrants. Another is still being sought,” Greek civil protection minister Michalis Chrysochoidis said on state radio (ERT).
The five alleged arsonists were said in police circles to be Afghans whose asylum applications had been rejected. The Moria camp was almost completely destroyed in several simultaneous fires. More than 12,500 migrants remained homeless. To accommodate these people, Athens has set up a tent camp not far from the old one in Moria.
Germany wants to host 1,500 refugees
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer agreed to accept around 1,500 more immigrants from the Greek islands in Germany.
As the German Press Agency learned from national politicians on Tuesday, these are families with children who have already been recognized in Greece as in need of protection. According to the information, the proposal has already been discussed with the Greek government.
It was not yet clear whether the Social Democrats would agree to this. SPD President Saskia Esken had asked Germany to host several thousand refugees from Greece in addition to offers of aid that had already been made.
Greek authorities assume that the Moria refugee camp, which had been desperately overcrowded for years, was set on fire by migrants last week. The situation there had previously escalated after several asylum seekers tested positive for the coronavirus.
Seehofer announced on Friday that Germany will accept 100 to 150 young people out of a total of 400 unaccompanied minors who will be taken from Greece to other European countries. He also emphasized that in a second step they would then talk to Athens about accepting families with children.
Short stays hard
The Greek authorities, apart from the 400 unaccompanied minors, have not yet officially requested the admission of the people who have now become homeless in other EU countries. Rather, they began setting up a tent camp on Lesbos, in which migrants should first come to live.
Angela Merkel had harshly criticized Sebastian Kurz’s way of not accepting refugees, “Heute” reported. The Austrian Federal Chancellor is still tough. “We will not follow the German path here,” the Austrian head of government told a news conference in Lower Austria. “I also assume that many European countries will not go down this path, accepting large numbers of refugees from Greece. Here in Austria we have hosted a very, very large number of refugees in recent years.”
