Thousands of homeless refugees on the road awaited the arrival of emergency aid on the island of Lesvos on Thursday after fires ravaged Moria camp, Greece’s largest and sordid refugee camp.
A ferry was dispatched Thursday to the island, where a “state of emergency” was declared, to accommodate the homeless and two Greek navy vessels are to increase accommodation capacity. The Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, is expected for an inspection visit.
“Thousands of tents are now on the streets,” Greek deputy minister responsible for immigration Giorgos Koumoutsakos told Skai TV.
In fact, many families don’t even have tents and have just spent a second night under the stars and on the ground, lacking everything, including mattresses and basic necessities.
Most of the thousands of migrants, panicking out of tents and containers overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, found themselves sitting by the side of the road from the camp to the port of Mytilene, forming long queues of three kilometers. , noted an AFP journalist.
Some took refuge in the surrounding olive groves. Others, with haggard eyes, wandered into neighboring villages in search of water.
“We have lost everything”
“We have lost everything,” sighs Fatma Al-Hani, a Syrian from Deir-Zor carrying her two-year-old child in her arms on the road leading from Moria to the small port of Panagiouda.
“We are left to ourselves, without food, without water, without medicine,” adds this young woman who has just managed to save her identity papers from the flames.
“Where can we go? », Asks Mahmout, originally from Afghanistan. Next to him, his compatriot Aisha looks for his children: “Two of my children are there, but I do not know where the others are”.
Cornille Ndama, Congolese, also fled Moria during the night. “I have nothing, nothing with me and yet we do not know where we are going to sleep.”
On Wednesday evening, a new fire broke out in a part of the camp that had been relatively untouched, causing the same scenes of chaos.
Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi stressed that “no casualties” had been reported, welcoming the intervention of firefighters and police, while acknowledging that at least 3,500 migrants were homeless.
“We are taking emergency measures for these people: the most vulnerable, around 1000, will be accommodated on a ferry”, at the port of Mytilene, capital of the island, he assured.
Residents and local authorities oppose the temporary installation of tents outside the camp.
“We are facing difficulties from the local authorities and residents,” said Deputy Minister Yiorgos Koumoutsakos.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen underlined that the EU stands “ready to help”: the Commission has already announced that it is taking charge of the immediate transfer to mainland Greece of 400 children and adolescents.
Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency, has called on member countries to welcome migrants from the camp. Thousands of demonstrators demanded Wednesday across Germany that their country also take care of migrants.
“Violent reactions”
Austria will offer one million euros in aid to buy “tents and blankets”. France said it was ready to “take its part in solidarity”.
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou called on the EU “not to close its eyes”. “Refugees and immigration are first and foremost a European problem,” she added in a statement.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attributed the origin of the disaster to “violent reactions against health checks” carried out after the detection of 35 cases of COVID-19 in the camp.
The first case of coronavirus was detected in Moria last week and the camp was placed in isolation for two weeks.
The main part of the ID registration center was completely destroyed, according to Notis Mitarachi.
Besides this main part of the camp housing nearly 4,000 people, the Moria camp extended into the surrounding olive groves where nearly 8,000 people lived in tents.
The camp housed some 12,700 asylum seekers, four times its capacity, including 4,000 children.
Lesbos, an island in the Aegean Sea with 85,000 inhabitants, is the main gateway for migrants to Greece due to its proximity to Turkey.
NGOs are worried. “Many people are scattered,” explains Giovanna Scaccabarozzi, from Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) in Lesbos, who feels “distress and despair”.
The Moria camp has often been criticized for its lack of hygiene and its overcrowding by NGOs who call on the Greek authorities to transfer the most vulnerable asylum seekers to the mainland.