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AID NORWAY: Many of the 13,000 migrants living in the camp have lost everything they had, they do not have access to food, water or sanitation. Norway now sends a team to Greece. Photo: Gisle Oddstad
Greece has asked Norway for help in Moria. A team of 25 is sent to help.
– The government decided today to send a team to contribute after the fire in Morialeiren. It is a terrible situation there, the Minister for Children and Families, Kjell Ingolf Ropstad (KrF) told VG.
Much of the infamous Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos has burned down since Wednesday, and the camp is in ruins.
– We are in a situation where there is a great urgent need for this type of skills. “We have this equipment here and we are sending it,” says Trade and Industry Minister Iselin Nybø (V).
Trade and Industry Minister Iselin Nybø (V) and Child and Family Affairs Minister Kjell Ingolf Ropstad talk about the team that will now travel to Greece to help. Photograph: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Scanpix
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Approximately 13,000 migrants and asylum seekers have been detained at Camp Morial on the Greek island of Lesbos, and coronavirus was detected in the population earlier this week.
– The combination of migration and pandemic makes this an exceptionally demanding situation, says Greece’s Migration Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos.
On Wednesday night, fires broke out in the camp and on Thursday there were new violent fires.
Greek authorities had previously declared a four-month state of emergency on the island, due to the growing conflict between asylum seekers and the rest of the population.
The Moria refugee camp on Lesbos in Greece burned more or less until Wednesday September 9, 2020. Photo: Gisle Oddstad
On September 9, Norway received a request for assistance from the Greek authorities.
The next day, it was decided to send 25 doctors, nurses and logistics personnel. The team leaves early next week.
– It’s the same equipment that was used in northern Italy this spring and during the Ebola outbreak in Congo last year. They have great knowledge to help in crisis situations and are on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, says Ropstad.
Nybø adds that if there are requests from the Greek authorities for things like woolen blankets and clothing packages, they will also be sent.
– We have this material as a contingency measure in case we receive a lot of asylum seekers, so we can send it quickly.. We are ready to contribute other things if the Greek authorities ask us, says the Minister of Commerce and Industry.
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Sending medical personnel to Lesbos will go no further than Norwegian emergency preparedness. Ropstad is fully aware of this.
– The capacity of Norwegian hospitals will not be weakened. There are 25 people who are going to contribute and they come from hospitals across the country. The importance for hospitals in Norway will be small, but for those in Greece it will be very great.
The team will support the local health service in the area, and those who travel are under the leadership of the Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB), with the support of the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
Many of those who live in the countryside have lost everything they had. Photo: Gisle Oddstad
Initially, the Norwegian team was asked to help out for two weeks.
– If Greece requests an extension of that allocation, we will take a position on it when that request comes, says Nybø.
It has not been clarified how much it will cost to send them, but ministers say that work has been done to free up funds.
– The core of this is that we have chosen to create such a team. We have it just so we can use it for such things. This is an extraordinary situation and they have asked for help, says Ropstad.
