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Moria was the last line of defense in the “Fortress of Europe”, in effect a deterrent for those who thought of adventure trying to find a future in the EU.
The background is that Greece could not handle the influx of refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan who arrived by sea to Lesbos and other islands from Turkey in 2015.
The rest of the EU also couldn’t deal with the fact that hundreds of thousands of desperate people are coming here. The wave of refugees brought down governments and contributed to the rise of right-wing populism.
Attempts to distribute Asylum seekers among member states fell when Central European countries flatly said no.
Only in the years after 2016, when the EU paid Turkey to stop the flow of refugees, did it decline. But Turkish President Erdogan believes that this agreement is no longer linked.
In this situation, how should pressure be relieved on southern European countries that are the first stop for migrants?
You can stop inflatable boats at sea and leaving them wind by wave without an engine, which is contrary to international law but which both Greece and Malta have reportedly done on many occasions.
Or you can, consciously or not, make sure you create a place in Europe that, if possible, is more insecure and poorer than the refugees’ countries of origin.
Som Moria.
Therefore, for five years, nothing has been done to improve living conditions in the infamous camp. On the contrary, it has gotten even worse. Nor has the asylum process been accelerated: in 2019, it took an average refugee eleven months to have time for an interview with the authorities.
Disease, poverty and violence: this is what it is like to live in a notorious countryside
Now Moria is gone Burned. Thousands of people remain without a roof over their heads.
And neither the EU nor Greece know how to handle the situation.
In a statement addressed to the outside world, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his condolences to the victims of the fire and emphasized Greece’s “humanity towards the weak.” But it is clear that the country also wants to maintain its deterrence.
The government of Athens he wants at all costs to avoid creating a precedent, not to “reward” the ancient inhabitants of Moria by welcoming them to the mainland.
The investigation into the cause of the fire is not complete, but Athens’ comments assume that the fire was started by refugees.
– Some people do not respect their host country. They thought if we set fire to Moria, we would have to get off the island. But no matter how you think, you can forget it, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said on Thursday.
The message is that fire doesn’t change anything. No refugee will have a more tolerable life. All but a few will remain on Lesbos in some form of temporary accommodation. Just like Moria was.
Greece has a legitimate demands for EU aid. But the fact that a dozen countries now say they are ready to receive more than 400 unaccompanied children from Moria only underscores the powerlessness of the Union as a whole.
This individual catastrophe is being faced by each country individually, just like the great wave of refugees five years ago.
In Brussels, the EU Commissioner for Refugees, Ylva Johansson, now has these difficult issues on the table. In just over two weeks, on September 30, it will present a new “asylum and migration pact”, which, among other things, aims to help countries like Greece.
But nobody believes that it is possible to force member states to cooperate in the reception of refugees, as little as in 2015. Johansson hopes to find some kind of compromise, but at the same time he says it in an interview for several European media:
– When I present my proposal, nobody will be happy.
Read more:
Hundreds of families were left without food or water on the outskirts of Moria
Ingmar Nevéus: Everyone wanted to see Moria disappear, but not in this way
