Europe

A migrant woman and a girl react after having been cleaned with water after police threw tear gas during clashes near the city Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, on September 12, 2020, a few days after a fire destroyed the Moria refugee camp. Police on the Greek island of Lesbos fired tear gas at migrants on September 12 who threw stones during a protest to demand shelter after the local camp of Moria burned down, an AFP photographer said. / AFP / ANGELOS TZORTZINIS
A migrant woman and a girl react, having been cleaned with water after police threw teargas. AFP

Tear gas fired on migrant protesters demanding resettlement

Greece has warned camp residents they will not be allowed to leave Lesbos island, the protesters’ key demand.

Simon Rushton
Simon Rushton

September 12, 2020

Greek police fired tear gas on migrant protesters demanding to be rehoused in Greece and Europe after a blaze destroyed a cramped refugee camp.

The rally on Lesbos came as 10 European countries agreed to take 406 unaccompanied children who were living at the Moria camp and building work started on a new tented site.

Hundreds of migrants chanted “Freedom" and "No Camp" and carried handwritten signs carrying messages including ‘We don't want to go to a hell like Moria again’ and ‘Can you hear us Mrs Merkel?’ in an appeal to the German chancellor.

More than 12,000 people, mostly from Africa and Afghanistan, have been sleeping rough since flames swept through the overcrowded Moria camp last week.

Refugees and migrants from the destroyed camp of Moria flee tear gas fired by riot police during clashes, on the island of Lesbos, Greece, September 12, 2020. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Refugees and migrants from the destroyed Moria camp run from flee teargas. Reuters

The fire at the camp, which was holding four times the number of people it was supposed to, has returned the spotlight to the migration crisis facing the European Union, which has struggled to find a response that goes beyond temporary fixes.

Greece warned that camp residents will not be allowed to leave Lesbos, the protesters’ key demand.

"As of today, asylum seekers will start coming into the tents, into safe conditions," Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi told reporters at the site.

The 406 unaccompanied children living in the camp were flown off Lesbos on Wednesday and now Germany and France has agreed to take in about two-thirds of them.

The remainder will go to Finland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Croatia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium and Switzerland.

Still, the conditions being endured by Moria's former inhabitants in the fields and streets of Lesbos has caused some alarm in Greece.

"This is a health bomb. These people haven't even had access to water all these days, they cannot even wash their hands," Matina Pagoni, president of Athens and Piraeus hospital doctors' union, told Skai television.

Health authorities have promised to conduct rapid coronavirus tests at the entrance of the new camp, after losing track of 35 people who have tested positive.

  • A refugee carries her belongings following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
    A refugee carries her belongings following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
  • Refugees run as fire burns in the Moria camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
    Refugees run as fire burns in the Moria camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
  • Destroyed shelters following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
    Destroyed shelters following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
  • A view of destroyed shelters following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
    A view of destroyed shelters following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
  • Fire burns container houses and tents in the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
    Fire burns container houses and tents in the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
  • A family sleeps at a parking space, following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
    A family sleeps at a parking space, following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
  • A girl holds her cat during a fire in the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
    A girl holds her cat during a fire in the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
  • A man runs as a fire burns inside the Moria migrant camp on the island of Lesbos. AFP
    A man runs as a fire burns inside the Moria migrant camp on the island of Lesbos. AFP
  • Refugees carry their belongings as they flee from a fire burning at the Moria camp, on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
    Refugees carry their belongings as they flee from a fire burning at the Moria camp, on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Reuters
  • Refugees carry their belongings as they flee from a fire burning at the Moria camp, on the island of Lesbos, Greece. AFP
    Refugees carry their belongings as they flee from a fire burning at the Moria camp, on the island of Lesbos, Greece. AFP
  • Refugees wearing facemasks gather outside the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos during a major fire there. AFP
    Refugees wearing facemasks gather outside the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos during a major fire there. AFP
  • Refugees wearing facemasks gather outside the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos during a major fire there. AFP
    Refugees wearing facemasks gather outside the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos during a major fire there. AFP
  • Refugees stand with their belongings after being evacuated as a fire burns in the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos. AFP
    Refugees stand with their belongings after being evacuated as a fire burns in the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos. AFP
  • Refuees stand outside the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos during a major fire there. AFP
    Refuees stand outside the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos during a major fire there. AFP
  • A firefighter tries to extinguish a fira at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
    A firefighter tries to extinguish a fira at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
  • Refugees and migrants leave as a fire burns at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
    Refugees and migrants leave as a fire burns at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
  • Refugees and migrants gather on a bridge as fire burns at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
    Refugees and migrants gather on a bridge as fire burns at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
  • Refugees and migrants with their children gather on a bridge as fire burns at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
    Refugees and migrants with their children gather on a bridge as fire burns at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. AP Photo
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