Greece: Residents of Burned Moria Camp Should ‘Forget’ About Reaching Germany

400 unaccompanied children from the burned Moria camp are being transferred to northern Greece. Other asylum seekers from this camp must remain on Lesbos. Greek authorities have said they should forget about leaving the island and reaching Germany.

Following the fire at the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos, thousands of refugees were left homeless and without food. Greek television showed images of refugees lying along streets waiting for help. Some spent the night in a cemetery. Greek authorities are looking for solutions for them.

First, efforts will focus on accommodating families and individuals who need help more than others. Greece’s Immigration Office announced that a large ship with capacity for hundreds of people has been sent to Lesbos. Two Greek Navy ships will also provide shelter for refugees.

Three planes flew to Lesbos to transfer 406 unaccompanied children from the island of Lesbos to northern Greece. The European Union has promised to cover the cost of this transfer. The Greek government said it will deliver food to refugees with the help of relief organizations.

Relief organizations say they do not have access to refugees

Relief organizations are complaining that they cannot reach and access refugees. Christine Schmitz from the International Organization of Voluntary Medical Organizations, who has been on Lesbos since last month, says the roads leading to Moria have been closed by the military and police.

Doctors Without Borders have also complained about the difficulty of reaching refugees. They say some residents of Lesbos have closed roads and prevented the establishment of field hospitals opposite the Moria settlement. Some refugees are still in the burned Moria camp and need help, but they have no access to them. Doctors Without Borders say preventing the delivery of medical aid is unacceptable under any circumstances.

According to the relief organization “Mission Lifeline,” some people are trying covertly to bring water and food to refugees. The organization said Lesbos police are preventing any kind of aid.

Local residents oppose the establishment of any new accommodations

Efforts to set up temporary tents to house displaced refugees have faced resistance from residents of the island and its authorities. Georgios Koumoutsakos, from Greece’s Ministry of Migration, said: “For us, setting up tents to accommodate refugees has become difficult.”

Residents of Lesbos, who in previous years had welcomed refugees with open arms and helped them, no longer wish for the presence of refugees after several more years. On the evening of Tuesday, September 9, parts of the Moria settlement were set on fire. The remaining section was also burned on Wednesday, leaving about 13,000 residents homeless.

The Greek government believes the arson was deliberate and carried out by a number of refugees who, fearing coronavirus infection, tried to leave the camp as quickly as possible. The camp has a maximum capacity of 2,500 people and with over four times that population, it has always been a scene of conflict and many problems. According to some reports, conflicts have occurred between some refugees and the island’s native population.

Stelios Petsas, government spokesman, said those who took this action show no respect for the host government and have blocked any solution. He emphasized to refugees that they should remove the cotton from their ears, stressing that such actions will not result in them being sent elsewhere.

As a result, the request for faster transfer of thousands of refugees to other areas essentially received a negative answer. Georgios Koumoutsakos, Deputy Minister of Migration, also said: “Whoever thought they would now go to Greece and then to Germany should forget about it.”

Now the danger of a wider spread of coronavirus disease also threatens refugees. Before the fire, 35 cases of coronavirus were identified among refugees. After they were displaced, only eight of them were found. It is unclear where the remaining 27 are, and this has increased the possibility of uncontrolled spread of coronavirus.

Source: DW