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Switzerland wants to host 20 unaccompanied minors from Moria
Switzerland wants to host around 20 unaccompanied children and youth from the burned-out Moria refugee camp on Lesbos. The Federal Council announced on Friday. The government’s focus is on local aid.
On Friday afternoon, an aid flight with a ton of material leaves for Athens. On board are sleeping bags, mats, jerry cans, kitchen utensils and other relief items requested by the Greek government.
Two specialists from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Corps (SHA) are also on the plane. The Foreign Department of the FDFA has contributed up to one million francs in humanitarian aid to be able to respond to the most urgent needs of those affected by the fire.
After the great fire in the Greek immigrant camp of Moria, nine EU countries and Switzerland want to participate in the reception of 400 unaccompanied minors.
Migrant women line up for water and fruit on Lesbos. Image: keystone
The Federal Council writes that it is primarily a matter of immediately guaranteeing the accommodation, care and protection of migrants. The distribution of affected immigrants to EU countries is not in the foreground, according to him.
However, Switzerland is willing to accept 20 of the total of around 400 unaccompanied minors. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) promised this in response to an informal request from Germany. These particularly vulnerable children and adolescents must be evacuated immediately and taken to other European countries, the message says.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said earlier in Berlin: “Our contacts with the member states of the European Union have led ten European member states to participate with us in helping, that is, in the resettlement of unaccompanied minors. “.
The number ten mentioned by Seehofer includes Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU. But there are still talks with other countries. In view of the government involvement of the Greens in Austria, it is “surprising” that Vienna has yet to commit.
Most of the people, 100 to 150 each, will be taken in by Germany and France, the minister said. In Germany, young people are expected to arrive by the end of the month at the latest.
An exact number can only be given once the talks with the other EU states have been concluded. “The 400 minors are a first step and this first step will be followed by another,” Seehofer explained. I wanted to focus on families with children.
12,000 people affected
The Moria camp was almost completely destroyed by numerous fires on Wednesday night. Instead of the nearly 3,000 expected migrants, more than 12,000 people stayed there. Some of the migrants are said to have started shooting after a quarantine was ordered for the camp’s residents due to corona infections. The “no solution” in the negotiations on a common European asylum policy led to the current catastrophic situation on Lesbos, Seehofer said.
He reported that Greece made suggestions on Thursday on how Germany could help with housing and caring for the homeless at the site. The German government now wants to sit down with German aid organizations to help as fully as possible. The technical aid organization also set out on Friday to bring tents, 1,400 folding beds and sleeping bags to Lesbos.
The vice president of the EU Commission responsible for migration, Margaritis Schinas, said: “Moria no longer exists.” With the help of the European Union, a new and more modern facility will be created where asylum procedures can be carried out more quickly. I wanted to propose this to the Greek head of government.
Schinas also confirmed that the EU Commission will present new proposals on September 30 for the reform of the EU’s migration and asylum policy, which had been blocked for years. (sda / dpa)
