In the refugee camp Moria on the Greek island Lesbos two fires broke out on Sunday afternoon. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the Greek police SPIEGEL. Reports of potential casualties were not confirmed by either the police or the Ministry of Health. A spokesman for the Ministry of Health spoke to the SPIEGEL of one to three possible victims.
According to the police, the first fire was fired at 5 pm at an olive grove outside the official camp. A little later, it also burned inside the plant. Police spokesman Theodoros Chronopoulus told AP news agency that people from the camp had set the fires and demanded that they be taken to the mainland. Both fire pits are meanwhile deleted.
After consumption, the fire also spread to residential containers, said another spokesman for the police. After the arrival of the police, there had been clashes between migrants and the police. Currently, the residents tried to occupy the deportation area, the spokesman said. The situation is not yet completely under control. The officials would now get reinforcements from the mainland. Photos and videos from the camp show large clouds of smoke.
Moria camp, Lesvos Greece #RefugeesWelcome #refugeesgr pic.twitter.com/H2AL7xJ42q
- arash hampay آرشهمپای (@Ahampay) September 29, 2019In the camp and the adjacent olive grove many thousands of refugees sleep in makeshift tents. The camp was originally intended for 3000 people only. In the meantime, around 12,500 people live in Moria, who are on boats from the Turkish coast to the island.
In the completely overcrowded camp, there are always fighting between the residents or between migrants and the police. It was not until the beginning of September that police used tear gas against minors who had set fire to trash cans. In August, a 15-year-old Afghan had died after a knife attack, two other minors were injured.
Tear gas against camp residents
The situation on Lesbos is deteriorating as more and more people from the Turkish coast translate to the Aegean islands. Most of them are originally from Afghanistan and have sometimes spent several months or years in Turkey.
The Refugee Agreement between the EU and Turkey provides that people must stay in the islands until their asylum procedure is completed. On the Greek mainland usually only those are brought, which are considered particularly vulnerable. The scheme is currently using the Greek government to bring thousands of people off the islands, as conditions there become inhuman from week to week.
It was not until mid-September that the head of the Moria camp resigned. Yannis Balpakakis said he had "done what needed to be done under difficult circumstances" and was now "tired".