Thousands of refugees slept the second night on the island of Lesbos on the island of Greece, when the fire caused the country’s largest camp to collapse to the ground, the crowd fleeing from there but nowhere to go.
Families slept on the side of the road, in supermarket parking lots and in areas across the island, leading to the European migration crisis in 2015-2016.
There were about 13,000 people in the camp.
Tuesday night’s fire at Moria forced thousands of people to flee for their lives, reducing the camp – notorious for its poor living conditions – to a mass of smoldering steel and molten tent tarpaulins.
Another fire broke out Wednesday night, destroying what little was left.
People sleep on the road near the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos [Petros Giannakouris/The Associated Press]
Desperate families, with many young children, spent Wednesday nights in the open, without some tents or original beds. Some homeless people were trekking to nearby villages for water and other supplies.
Strict police enforcement was put in place to prevent refugees and migrants from reaching the island’s main city of Mytilin, confining them to fields and roadsides.
Valencia, an eight-year-old Congolese girl who was barefoot, hinted to a Reuters reporter that she was hungry and wanted biscuits. “Our house is on fire, my shoes are on fire, we have no food, no water.”
She and her mother Natzi Malala, 30, a newborn, slept on the side of the road.
“There is no food for the baby, no milk,” Natzi Malala said.
Officers declared a four-month state of emergency on Lesbos and additional rioters flew into the police.
The migration ministry said it would take “all necessary steps” to ensure that vulnerable groups and families are sheltered, but this is expected to be strongly opposed by locals.
Authorities were already considering plans with locals to replace Moria with a closed reception center, which Lesbos residents fear will leave thousands of asylum seekers permanently stranded.
There was disagreement among the municipalities about handling the situation, said Costas Moutzouris, governor of the northern Aegean. “No decision. It’s in the air.” He told Reuters.
Refugees and migrants seek refuge in the woods following a fire at the Moria camp [Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]
The Ministry of Migration said the ferry was sent to accommodate hundreds of people before the expected arrival of European Commission Vice President Margaritis Shinas to monitor the conditions on the island.
Al Jazeera’s John Passaroplos, reporting from Lesbos, said the situation was dire for the government.
“It’s hard to see how the government will reconcile so many thousands [refugees] Who have remained desolate and homeless.
“We have been told that thousands of people with small children are preparing to have three ships for the most vulnerable, but it will still knock out a few thousand people. There is a big problem because the municipality does not have the infrastructure to provide them.”
A government official who declined to be named said there was no safe way to shelter refugees and migrants on boats and was sending the wrong message to migrants seeking to leave Lesbos.
The fire caused a fresh tragedy to the refugees living in Moria. Camp Quarantine was banned due to the outbreak of COVID-19 last week.
Authorities are investigating whether Tuesday night’s fire was deliberately started after 35 refugees were isolated after a COV-19 test.
Source:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
