Thousands of migrants were left without shelter on Wednesday after overnight fires gutted their overcrowded camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, and authorities warned that some asylum seekers who tested positive for COVID-19 could spread the virus.
A massive fire has almost entirely destroyed an overcrowded migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. More than 12,000 asylum seekers were being accommodated at the Moria camp which has a capacity for fewer than 2,800 people.
The fire shows the urgency of rethinking Europe’s approach to migration, “which has led to the overcrowded, inhumane and completely unsustainable situation in Moria and elsewhere on the Aegean islands,” Mijatovic said.
On second day of fire spreading before it takes devastating affect. Athens government called emergency meeting to discuss the fire at migrant camp. Greek declared a state of emergency on Lesbos and sent police reinforcements to the island to help keep order.
Authorities were investigating whether Tuesday night’s fires were started deliberately after COVID-19 tests led to the isolation of a number of refugees.
“There was not just one but many fires in the camp. Migrants threw stones at firefighters trying to put out the fires,” Constantine Theophilopoulos, fire brigade chief for the northern Aegean, told ERT TV.
