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Switzerland did not hesitate long. After the devastating fire in the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, the first plane with sleeping bags, mattresses, water tanks and kitchen utensils took less than three days to reach Greece. Five tons of relief supplies have been delivered and eight FDFA specialists are on site.
“It has to be fast now,” says Martin Bölsterli (46), a member of the Humanitarian Aid Corps (SH), by phone on Sunday View. “We have to get people off the streets. Also to avoid conflicts with the local population ”.
Construction noise can be heard in the background. Photos and videos show how the heavy machines drive over inhospitable terrain, rolling the ground to build new tents. The new Kara Tepe camp was built in record time in a former military training area.
«Moria 2.0» has an image problem
“We were the first on the field,” says Bölsterli. The Zurich architect has been with the relief corps for five years; was in Lesbos for Switzerland last year. The Swiss team, two women, six men, supports the general coordination of the new camp and is in charge of the drinking water supply. Up to 12,000 people should find space here. But, as of Friday, only half of them have moved in and the camp is struggling with an image problem.
Refugees fear that “Moria 2.0,” as critics call the camp, will turn into a prison. That they can no longer leave the island. A special squad of Greek police, which includes 70 women, has been trying to persuade refugees to come to the camp since Thursday, particularly families. Leaflets were used to inform everyone that the only way out of Lesbos was through an asylum procedure. And that only happens when you go to camp.
“We are shown a lot of respect”
“But people are afraid of another fire. They are concerned about the safety of their children, ”says Luciano Calestini of the children’s aid organization Unicef in Greece. It is clear to experts that the fire caused additional trauma for many of the refugees, after experiences of war and abuse, fleeing, months or years in Moria, the “shame of Europe”, as the Swiss sociologist Jean Ziegler calls it. The refugees are still rummaging through Moria’s ashes, searching for her few belongings.
“I have a lot of respect for refugees,” says Swiss aide Martin Bölsterli. “They carry the load they carry with great patience; I have great admiration for that.” The Swiss team is comfortable under the circumstances. “We can move freely and they treat us with great respect. The refugees are very friendly, that cannot be taken for granted. “
Problems even with unaccompanied minors
Kara Tepe is considered a temporary storage facility, but like Moria, it will not remain an interim solution. 12,600 people were made homeless in Tuesday’s fire just under two weeks ago. So far, only 406 unaccompanied minors have been evacuated to the mainland.
Apart from Germany, no country has so far agreed to host refugees other than children and young people without families. And there are even problems with them. Some of the host countries, including Switzerland, make demands: young, educated girls are particularly popular.
“All these children are just children. Someone under 18 years of age is a child according to all international laws and conventions and should be treated that way, ”criticized the representative of Unicef, Luciano Calestini.
