Thousands of refugees yesterday slept rough on the Greek island of Lesbos after two fires razed their makeshift camp, sending them fleeing, but with nowhere to go.
Families slept on roadsides, supermarket parking lots and fields across the island, which was at the forefront of the European refugee crisis between 2015 and 2016.
There had been about 12,500 people in the camp. Tuesday night’s inferno at Moria sent thousands fleeing, reducing a camp notorious for its poor living conditions to a mass of smoldering steel and melted tent tarpaulin.
Photo: AFP
A second fire broke out on Wednesday night, destroying whatever was left.
Police reinforcements were brought in to prevent the refugees reaching the island’s main town of Mytilene, confining them to fields and roadsides.
Congolese eight-year-old Valencia Malala, who was barefoot, gestured to a reporter that she was hungry and asked for a biscuit.
“Our home burned, my shoes burned, we don’t have food, no water,” she said.
Both she and her mother, Natzy Malala, 30, who also has a newborn infant, slept on the side of the road.
“There is no food, no milk for the baby,” Natzy Malala said.
The Greek Ministry of Migration Policy said that it would take “all necessary steps” to ensure that vulnerable groups and families had shelter, but these were expected to be met with stiff resistance from local residents.
Greek authorities were already at loggerheads with the residents over plans to replace Moria with a closed reception center, which residents fear would mean thousands of asylum seekers remaining permanently.
Municipalities are at odds over the handling of the situation, Northern Aegean Governor Costas Moutzouris said.
“There is no decision. It’s up in the air,” he said.
The ministry said that a ferry had been sent to accommodate hundreds of the refugees, while two navy vessels would provide additional sleeping space.
The government said that it had sent three flights to remove 406 unaccompanied minors from the island and the children would be housed in “safe” facilities in northern Greece.
Additional reporting by AP
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