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Ireland has been asked to take a small number of unaccompanied minors following the fire in Greece’s largest migrant camp, Moria, on the island of Lesbos, the Justice Department confirmed.
The fire broke out in the camp, which is home to 12,000 people, on Tuesday night. Greek officials say they believe it was deliberately set on by migrants who reacted to quarantine measures after Covid-19 was detected in the camp last week.
An Irish doctor based on the island described the fire as “absolutely catastrophic”.
Dr. Claire Dunne, of Co Laois, said she believes the fire has caused the largest humanitarian crisis the island has faced in living memory.
Germany says ten European countries have already agreed to take in just over 400 unaccompanied minors who fled the camp after the fire.
Most will go to Germany and France, according to Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked other members of the European Union to “assume greater shared responsibility” for migration policy.
While several EU states, including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Finland, agreed to take in the young migrants, the AFP news agency reported tonight that Belgium refused and Denmark said it would send money instead.
Talks are ongoing with other states.
Inside Moria camp: refugees remain hopeful despite dire conditions
In a statement tonight, the Irish Department of Justice said: “Requests for assistance to Ireland in the relocation of applicants for protection are carefully considered, taking into account our existing commitments on relocation and resettlement, under the Program of Irish Refugee Protection, and taking into account internal constraints, in particular those related to travel during the pandemic and the availability of suitable accommodation. “
The statement reads: “Like other EU countries, Ireland has been asked to host a small number of unaccompanied minors”, adding: “From a sense of EU solidarity, Ireland generally cooperates when they are done. requests “.
The Justice Department said it will consider any requests that may be made for the relocation of others in accordance with its commitments under the Refugee Protection Program.
However, the Department noted that the care of unaccompanied minors here falls to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and its agencies.
A spokesman for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs said Minister Roderic O’Gorman was “currently looking into the matter.”
People were left without shelter on the island of Lesbos after the fire and clashed with police as authorities began setting up hundreds of tents to try to contain the crisis.
With more than 12,000 former occupants of the crowded reception center now camping in the fields and along the roads without food or water and threatened by a possible spread of coronavirus infections, the need for a solution has become increasingly urgent.
However, the Greek government has been forced to exercise caution due to mounting anger among residents of an island whose location just a few miles off the Turkish coast has kept them on the front lines of Europe’s migration crisis for years.
The migrants, mostly from Africa, Syria or Afghanistan, were desperate to get off the island and a group of several hundred gathered a few miles outside the main port of Mytilene, near a supermarket where helicopters landed shops and supplies. .
Screaming “Freedom!” and “No police!” and waving handmade signs that read “No new camp” or “Please help us!” they faced the police who prevented them from going down the highway into the city.
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