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In view of the devastating fires in the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, voices have been raised in favor of a speedy evacuation of the camp.
Green’s boss, Annalena Baerbock, called for more refugees. “Germany has to act,” Baerbock told the Funke media group newspapers. “The camp is almost completely on fire, people wander, they are scared, and that’s on European soil,” Baerbock said. Europe cannot and should not look the other way.
However, the federal government is slowing aid, Baerbock said. “Our motions in the Bundestag to accept refugees were rejected.” The federal states that are ready and able to host more people ran into a wall in the federal minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer (CSU).
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) called for swift support for Greece. “This also includes the distribution of refugees among those willing to accept them in the EU,” the minister wrote on Twitter. He described the fire as “a humanitarian catastrophe.” With the EU Commission and other useful EU member states, Germany must clarify as soon as possible how Greece can be supported.
According to Ramelow, admission procedures must be accelerated
Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) told SPIEGEL that conditions in the camp were “an expression of European shame”. “It is time to finally speed up the admission process and distribute immediately to those seeking protection across Europe. Thuringia is ready to do its part immediately,” Ramelow said. Ramelow called the disputes over principles inhumane and unacceptable in the face of crying need.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior had halted a planned program in Thuringia to host refugees from overcrowded Greek camps. The reason given was that the legal requirements had not been met: if the federal government agreed, “federal uniformity would not be maintained.”
Lower Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius called for the camp to be dissolved and for the people to be distributed among European countries. Moria is the “symbol of the failure of European refugee policy. It has made the local population more or less prisoner,” Pistorius said. “My thoughts are with people facing the next catastrophe in an already desperate situation.” It was time “to put an end to this unworthy and life-threatening spectacle,” Pistorius said. The EU must be measured by how it treats the weakest.
“It is pathetic that the EU has been watching for so long”
The chairman of the Bundestag’s human rights committee, FDP politician Gyde Jensen, spoke in favor of immediate aid. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) should no longer “generally rule out” the admission of more refugees. “The EU interior ministers now have to find a viable solution to help the thousands of people in Moria who have lost their roof over their heads there.”
North Rhine-Westphalia refugee minister Joachim Stamp (FDP) also called for a swift reaction from the federal government and the EU. “It is pathetic that the EU has been watching for so long until this escalation occurred in Moria,” Stamp said. In doing so, he pointed to the special responsibility of Germany, which holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner promises quick help
The president of the Council of the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD), Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, said the extent of the fire was cause for concern. “It is not yet clear if people have died. My fears are great. And my prayers are intense,” Bedford-Strohm said.
Swedish EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson from Sweden promised quick help for the people of Moria. She was in contact with local authorities, she wrote on Twitter. It agreed to finance the immediate transfer and accommodation of the remaining 400 unaccompanied children and youth on the mainland. “The safety and security of everyone in Moria is a priority.”
The Moria refugee camp on the Aegean island of Lesbos was partially evacuated Wednesday night after several fires broke out. The camp has been desperately overcrowded for years, currently living there around 12,600 refugees and migrants, according to the Greek Migration Ministry, with a planned capacity of 2,800 people.
