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Refugees at the edge of the Vathy camp on Samos (archive image)
Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis / DPA
On the Greek island of Samos, a fire broke out near the refugee camp there on Tuesday evening.
"There is a fire on the edge of the registration center," said the mayor of Vathy, Giorgos Stantzos, the dpa news agency.
The camp's tents would not burn, but he was concerned, said Stantzos.
Several Greek media also reported a fire near the camp.
According to reports, the fire broke out 200 to 300 meters above the refugee camp.
Images and videos were also circulating on social media showing large flames in the dark.
According to the newspaper "Kathimerini", 20 firefighters with several vehicles are on duty.
Just a few days ago, the Moria refugee camp on the nearby island of Lesbos was almost completely destroyed in a major fire.
Around 12,000 migrants were left homeless.
According to the Greek government, the fires were set by migrants to force people to leave the camps and the island.
Six suspects were recently arrested in connection with the fire.
However, the Moria camp has been overcrowded for years, after positive corona tests by two migrants, there were initially riots, later the fires broke out in several places in the camp.
Positive corona tests also on Samos
According to the Greek Ministry of Migration, around 4,600 migrants live in the Vathy refugee camp near the village of the same name on the island of Samos, but the camp only has a capacity of around 650 places.
Two people tested positive for the corona virus in the camp on Tuesday.
(Read a report about the conditions on Samos here.)
Greek politicians have been warning against the "Moria tactic" since the fire on Lesbos.
Fires could therefore also be started in other refugee camps - especially if the people were brought to the mainland or to Central and Northern Europe.
In addition to Moria on Lesbos, there are also refugee camps on the islands of Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos.
In view of the burned down camp, the migrants on Lesbos are demanding to be allowed to leave the island immediately.
However, most of them have not yet completed their asylum applications.
The Greek government insists that migrants must go through the normal asylum process.
The federal government had last offered to take in 1,553 people from the Greek islands.
There are said to be 408 families with children who have already been recognized as vulnerable in Greece.
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