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Shortly after midnight Wednesday, fires broke out in and around the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.
The official part of the camp, which housed some 4,000 people, was destroyed by fire. In the house next door, more than 8,000 people lived in tents and temporary shelters, and many of these shelters were damaged. No one was seriously injured, according to AFP.
– The situation in Moria cannot continue (as it is) because it is both a public health and national security problem, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday according to Reuters.
Greek Prime Minister and The Migration Minister accuses the asylum seekers of starting the fire after they were forced to self-quarantine, writes AFP. Last week, a person at the camp was confirmed to be infected with corona and by Tuesday, 35 people had been infected.
Authorities have declared a four-month emergency. The most vulnerable of the 3,500 homeless migrants would be allowed to sleep on a ferry in a nearby port on Wednesday night, while two Greek navy ships will provide more berths on Thursday.
According to Ylva Johansson, EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, 400 unaccompanied minors living in the countryside have received accommodation and transport to mainland Greece.
At the same time, many sat Asylum seekers along the road between the camp and the port of Mytilene, not knowing where to go.
– We have always called Moria “hell”. Yesterday it really happened that way. The wind was blowing strong and the fires were spreading between the tents at an enormous speed. People barely had time to take their children and flee, says Hamdow Alhamdow, an asylum seeker from Syria, adding that the police prevented her and others who fled the fire from continuing against Mytilene.
Aid organizations to dialogue with local authorities on how to solve the urgent emergency problem of a roof over their heads, while the authorities want to avoid an increase in corona infection on the island.
– The situation is more acute than ever. We have asylum seekers scattered along the road between Moria and Mytilini, and they need urgent help with food, clothing, medicine; they escaped the fires in what they were wearing, says Shirin Tinnesand, a spokesperson for the aid organization Stand by me Lesbos.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is urging EU member states to receive asylum seekers from the camp. Norway has announced that it plans to receive 50 asylum seekers. Greek-born European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas will visit Lesbos on Thursday.
