Moria migrants: Greek ships to help shelter 13,000 after fire

  • 2020-09-10 21:07:15
Greece is sending three ships to help house thousands of migrants sleeping rough on the island of Lesbos after fire destroyed their overcrowded camp. For a second night families slept on roads, and in fields and car parks after fleeing Moria camp, where about 13,000 had been living in squalor. A blaze engulfed Moria on Tuesday night before another wiped out any remaining tents on Wednesday. About 400 teenagers and children have been flown to mainland Greece. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed on a plan for the EU to take in about 400 unaccompanied minors from Lesbos, AFP news agency reports. It is not yet clear if they will be the ones already flown to mainland Greece. The EU has tried previously to resettle migrants among different member states but only a minority have been transferred from overcrowded camps in Greece and Italy. A quota system was rejected by a group of member states. The Greek ferry Blue Star Chios has now docked at Sigri, a Lesbos port about 100km (60 miles) from the main town Mytilene. It has capacity to house 1,000 migrants, and Greece is also sending two naval vessels to provide emergency accommodation. Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said about 2,000 people would be temporarily sheltered on the ships. He also said efforts were under way to provide shelter near the devastated Moria camp site. Mr Mitarachi said tensions had been running high in the camp because a 15-day quarantine had been imposed after a migrant tested positive for coronavirus last week. By Wednesday, 35 people linked to the camp had tested positive for coronavirus, and there is concern on Lesbos now that most of them need to be urgently located. Caroline Willeman, the Moria co-ordinator for medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), told the BBC that "they had initially been isolated, but of course in the chaos of the last two days they have once again been dispersed within the wider community". "We had been told last night that eight out of the 35 cases had again been located and isolated."

Related