The island’s main migrant camp destroyed by huge fires and thousands became homeless
After successive fires destroyed the island’s main migrant camp, Greek authorities were moving on Thursday to house thousands of refuge that became homeless on Lesbos
The migration ministry reported on Thursday that a car-ferry had been sent to temporarily house hundreds of people, before the expected visit of the European Commission vice-president, Margaritis Schinas, to examine the situations on the island.
Indeed, at Moria camp, which is the largest and most famous migrant department in Greece, the first fire late Tuesday led thousands of people to flee for safety in surrounding olive groves.
Ministers reported that nobody was seriously hurt, but the blaze initially destroyed the official part of the camp, which housed 4,000 people, another 8,000 lived in tents and makeshift shacks around the perimeter and many were badly damaged.
The ministry declared in a statement that a second fire late Wednesday damaged most of the remaining camp, it reported: Today all necessary actions will be taken to immediately shelter families and vulnerable persons, to begin with. The ministry also said that two Greek navy ships will offer additional sleeping berths.
Moreover, Migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, reported on Wednesday that asylum-seekers had inflamed the fire as the quarantine measures imposed after that 35 people at the camp tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Officials have announced a four-month emergency on Lesbos and placed additional riot police.
Otherwise, European countries from Germany to Norway, and also the chiefs of the EU, have replied with offers of aid, with the presence of requests for urgent reform of the bloc’s asylum system.
It should be noted that since Greece is becoming one of the principal gateways into Europe for migrants and asylum-seekers in 2015, it has constructed dozens of detention centers around the country, however with the acceptance by European nations only a small number of refugees, thousands still confined in the Greek camps indefinitely, in usually horrible health conditions.
The conservative government of Greece has also restricted its asylum restrictions, reducing cash benefits and the conditions of Residence to discourage further migration.
