During the night between the 8th and the 9th of September, a vast fire almost destroyed the Moria camp on the hotspot island of Lesvos. And in the next two days two other fires have completely obliterated it.
After more than 5 months of lockdown, during which time only a limited number of people could get in and go out every day, some people have been tested positive for Covid-19 and the government has enacted another stricter lockdown, allowing no one to enter or leave Moria.
Furthermore, the very same day the government signed a deal with the multinational Ellaktor Group in order to transform Moria into a closed and strictly controlled camp.
In an already tensed period, where violence and racism, fueled by the government were perpetrated among migrants and the associations that work on the isle, the last fires produced an evacuation of thousands of people that escaped Moria, leaving the few belongings they had.
As a result, more than 12.000 people have been left without any kind of protection or support without healthcare, food and water. There are more than 4000 children and 400 unaccompanied minors, that the Greek government has only now hypocritically transferred on the mainland, in some camps located in the north of Greece.
The images show women, children and men that walk the streets of the isle while hundreds of cops try to prevent their access to Mytilene.
The humanitarian emergency on Lesvos has only been getting worse, and the NGOs and associations that work on the island cannot help everyone.
Meanwhile, the local media reports that a ship that has docked in Sigri (a city in the west side of Lesvos) will host the most vulnerable subjects. The minister for immigration has also promised two more Navy ships to “host migrants“.
While the fires still burn in Moria, the government accuses migrants and promises harsh measures against who they say started the fires.
“Let’s say they haven’t understood. They aren’t leaving because of the fires, except for the unaccompanied minors that have already been moved. So, whatever they had in mind those who ignited the fire, they can as well forget it” Stelios Petsas, spokesman of the government, said.
The fires have been though started and fueled by the same racist government’s propaganda and the shameful EU’s migration policy.
In support of the people trapped on Lesvos and the other Aegean hotspot islands and of those who help them
LesvosCalling activists
(Venice Climate Camp, 10 September 2020)
