Greece, fire in the Lesbos migrant camp: thousands flee at night. Athens declares a state of emergency on the island for 4 months

The refugee camp of Moria, located on the Greek island of Lesbo, was almost completely destroyed by calls after a series of fires that broke out at night. According to preliminary information, thousands of people fled, although the mayor of Mytilene (the main city of the island) told a private radio Skai Stratos Kytelis that “more than 12 thousand migrants are supervised by the police on a road “. At the moment there are no reports of injuries, but there is concern that among the people who have fled there may be someone positive when coronavirusas 35 guests tested positive for swab last week. In the countryside, recalls the UN Refugee Agency, there are “more than 4 thousand children and other vulnerable groups, including 407 unaccompanied children, pregnant women and the elderly “.

The flames were extinguished but destroyed the health center and extensive residential areas.. A situation that caused the Greek government to declare it to Lesbos state of emergency for 4 months. Executive spokesman Stelios Petsas announced the decision after an emergency meeting chaired by the prime minister. Kyriakos Mitsotakis. With the state of emergency, Athens it sent all forces, including the police, firefighters and other public workers to support the island and the asylum seekers. In the afternoon, the Minister of the Interior, Takis Theodorikakos, the Minister of Immigration, Notis Mitarachi, and the president of the National Public Health Organization, Panagiotis Arkoumaneas, will be at the scene. “So far there has been no loss of life, while the 408 unaccompanied refugee children have been relocated to safety. They are fine. The priority is to protect the vulnerable who lived in Moria. We are about to transfer them to safe hotels and other accommodations, ”said Deputy Minister of Health, Giorgos Koumoutsakos.

Absolute destruction in #Moria campground visible with the first ray of light this morning. About 12,000 people will have nowhere to sleep tonight, not even the flimsy tents they used to call home.
Video by @ moutafis77 #Greece #lesvos #lesbos #migrants #refugees pic.twitter.com/9XUkS1cSk2

– ?????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? (@KallergisK) September 9, 2020

Reaction of‘European Union was not long in coming: the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva johansson writes on Twitter that “it has already agreed to finance the immediate transfer and accommodation on land of the rest 400 children and adolescents unaccompanied “because, he adds,” the safety and shelter of all people in Moria are the priority. “Unanimous solidarity of the European authorities, including the President of the European Parliament David sassolme (speaking of a “humanitarian emergency”) and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who asked Vice President Margheritis Schinas “to go to Greece as soon as possible.” She also intervened Charles Michel, President of the European Council: “We are in contact with the Greek authorities and ready to mobilize our help. Full solidarity with the residents of Lesbos who provide refuge for migrants and staff ”. Closeness also expressed by the European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni: “The European Commission collaborates with the Greek authorities to manage the humanitarian emergency,” he wrote in a tweet. Meanwhile the Norway, through the prime minister’s words Erna solberg, has already decided to host 50 of the registered residents of the Lesbos camp, giving priority to the “most vulnerable”, that is, families with children and those under 14 years of age.

According to local reports, the flames were deliberately lit to protest against the blocking measures, hypothesis that for the moment the agents of the firefighters from the island, interviewed by Associated Press, have not confirmed. Although they said they had “met resistance” from some residents of the camp. However, according to the government spokesman, it would be valid the arson hypothesis. Before dawn, riot police installed cordons along a road near the camp to restrict the movement of migrants. A situation that, for the mayor of Mytilene, is “very difficult”, especially because, he explains, “among those who fled there will be positive people.” At the moment, however, there is no clarity on the number of fugitives who tested positive for the coronavirus: some officials, in fact, revealed to Ap that the patients with Covid-19 are in a separate site from the one that was on fire, dislocated later On Tuesday 35 people were confirmed infected. After a Somali migrant tested positive, new restrictions were imposed, which according to some reports from local authorities would have been the cause of the protests and fires.

A “humanitarian tragedy”, as defined by the head of the Migration campaign Oxfam, Evelien van Roemburg, who in his opinion would be nothing other than “the consequence of years of misleading answers from the EU and its member states to the arrival of people fleeing conflict and persecution. A complaint that echoes the one already pronounced by Marco Sandrone, project leader of Doctors without borders in Lesbos, according to which “the inhabitants of Moria have been living in inhumane conditions for years”, therefore, adds van Roemburg, “without ignoring the responsibility of the Greek authorities, the European Parliament must launch an investigation on the policies and practices of the EU and its member states, which have led to mismanagement of EU-sponsored hotspots on the Greek islands ”.

Lesbo It was the busiest crossing point inEurope in 2015-16 by migration during a massive movement of refugees to the west, many of them fleeing the war in Syria me Iraq and traveling through the Turkey. After that wave of migration, Greece set up camps on Lesbos and four other islands, helped with funds from theEuropean Union and, more recently, it has also created a network of camps on the continent. However, over the years, the number of asylum seekers accepted on the islands has grown disproportionately, leading, for example, to the Moria camp to host more than four times the population for which it was was constructed. Since last Wednesday Lesbos firefighters have also been fighting two other forest fires in the western part of the island.