Police on the Greek island of Lesbos fired tear gas at protesting migrants who were left homeless when their camp burned down on Wednesday. Around 13,000 migrants and refugees had been living in squalor in the overcrowded Moria camp, and are desperate to leave the island.
The clashes broke out near a temporary camp built by Greek authorities. A fire was set there earlier in the day, near a police blockade, and had to be extinguished by firefighters. Families have been sleeping in fields and on roads after fleeing the blaze on Wednesday.
The Moria camp was initially designed to house 3,000 migrants. People from 70 countries had been sheltered there, most from Afghanistan. On Friday, migrants and refugees approached police barriers blocking the road out of Moria camp, holding signs calling for “freedom” and opposing the construction of a new camp.
There is also strong resistance from the island’s permanent residents for a new camp, and they have been blocking roads to stop aid deliveries.
The question of how to deal with the mass arrivals of migrants, mainly to Italy and Greece, has divided the EU for years.
Italy and Greece have accused wealthier northern countries of failing to do more, while a number of central and eastern nations are openly resistant to the idea of taking in a quota of migrants.
What is being done for the migrants?
The new camp will begin hosting some of those left without shelter from Saturday, Greece’s Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said.
On Friday, Germany announced that 10 European countries had agreed to take 400 unaccompanied minors who had been living in Moria.
The fire at Moria was “a sharp reminder to all of us for what we need to change in Europe”, Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.
But a group of charities and NGOs have written to the German government saying more has to be done for all of the migrants, not just those minors.
media captionMigrants are struggling to cope out in the open
“The shameful situation in the camp and the fire disaster are the direct result of a failed European refugee policy – now the EU must finally help the people affected,” the open letter reads. BBC
Pix: Migrants
