Since the fire that engulfed Moria camp on Lesbos island nearly two weeks ago, more than 500 of the 12,000 displaced migrants and refugees have been taking shelter at a center run by Team Humanity, a nonprofit humanitarian organization.

Related: After fire, Greek police move asylum-seekers to new camp

“Now, it’s the time for them to go to the new camp,” said one of the group’s coordinators as he helped migrants pack and load their belongings into a bus that would take them to a new campsite co-managed by the Greek government and EU agencies.

These migrants were among the last of the more than 12,000 displaced still trickling into the new site on Sunday. Many who have already moved into the camp, a former military firing range, say conditions are inhumane, and they worry their new home will turn into the next Moria — a camp notorious for its squalid and overcrowded conditions.

“I hope to [leave] the new camp as soon as possible, to go to another country,” said Javad, a 13-year-old asylum-seeker from Afghanistan, who has been on Lesbos for 14 months with his parents and two siblings. “I want to be free.”

Javad, a 13-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker who’s been on Lesbos for 14 months with his two siblings and parents, says he doesn’t want to be put in another camp.  Credit: Lydia Emmanouilidou/The World

A few feet away, a young Afghan asylum-seeker named Mohammad sat in the middle of a pile of black trash bags containing his and his family’s belongings, cradling a collared cat. Mohammad found the cat about six months ago while he was living at Moria camp, and named it Kuchulu, which roughly translates to Little. After hearing rumors that pets were not allowed into the new camp, he worried he would not be able to bring his feline friend along.

Mohammad, a young, Afghan asylum-seeker, found a cat he named Kuchulu while at Moria. He worries he won’t be able to bring his feline friend into the new camp.  Credit: Lydia Emmanouilidou/The World

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Nazanin, a 14-year-old, Afghan asylum-seeker, has already relocated to the new camp.

Related: Migrants displaced by fire at Moria camp on Lesbos: ‘Nobody’s life is safe here’

Nazanin says conditions inside the new camp are poor. There are too few port-a-potties and not enough pumps with running water for the thousands already inside the camp. Garbage was already starting to pile up due to a lack of adequate garbage bins and trash cans.

“It’s very crowded,” Nazanin said, adding that two families were being housed in each tent, regardless of the number of family members.

“I’m really worried that it will be Moria again.”

“I’m really worried that it will be Moria again.”

Related: Greece and Turkey sail toward a crisis of sea borders 

Sources inside the camp told The World that single men are being packed into larger mega tents — about 150 men in each tent, and many are concerned about a COVID-19 outbreak under the circumstances. Currently, there are nearly 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 inside the new camp, according to Greek authorities. Those who tested positive upon entering the camp were placed in a quarantined area walled off by barbed wire near the entrance of the camp.

Lydia Emmanouilidou @lydiaemman

Replying to @lydiaemman

A source inside the new camp just sent me this photo of mega tent where he and other single men are sleeping tonight. According to my source there are 8 such tents in the camp & 140-150 men are being crammed in each one.

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Some migrants are also reporting issues with food distribution, which happens once a day. Some in the camp say there often is not enough food for everyone inside, forcing migrants to venture out into town to buy their own supplies. (Migrants are currently allowed to leave the premises between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.)

Two Syrian asylum-seekers return from a shopping trip to the port city of Mytilene, where they picked up rice, tomato sauce and other food. They say the food being distributed at the camp is not enough.  Credit: Lydia Emmanouilidou/The World

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Because it’s right by the sea, some advocates say the camp is highly floodable and they’re worried about the safety of people come wintertime.

Related: Thousands of refugees sleep in streets after fire destroys Greece’s Moria camp

“Afghanistan is war. As you know it’s attacks and wars,” Nazanin said of her home country. “Because of that all we come here, come to Europe to have a good living. But [even] Afghanistan … is better than this.”

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Source: https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-09-21/migrants-displaced-lesbos-fire-say-conditions-new-camp-are-inhumane

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The post Migrants displaced by Lesbos fire say conditions at new camp are inhumane first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

MSF said “anti-migrant” protesters attacked its pediatric clinic outside the Moria refugee camp in Lesbos after targeting the launch of a new government coronavirus clinic being inaugurated by Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Thursday.

The demonstration quickly turned violent, MSF said, with a fire being lit outside the pediatric clinic, while some demonstrators “threw stones” into the facility, where staff were treating patients, including children.

In a statement sent to Newsweek, Marco Sandrone, MSF’s Lesbos field coordinator, said: “MSF strongly condemns the violent attacks on its pediatric clinic and the new Government COVID-19 facility outside Moria yesterday.”

“In what world do we live in, where children and pregnant women being treated by doctors are subject to people throwing stones at them?” Sandrone questioned.

Sandrone said the situation became so intensified that the organization’s medical teams eventually had to be “evacuated by bus from the scene.”

“It is just utterly incomprehensible that attacks like this can occur in in any
setting,” the MSF field coordinator said.

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The incident was not a solitary one, with humanitarian groups working to support migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, facing a growing wave of backlash from anti-migration groups and local communities.

“For some time now, we have been witnessing a rise in aggressive behavior towards asylum seekers and refugees, as well as humanitarian organizations and volunteers who have repeatedly been targeted and harassed for simply trying to provide assistance to vulnerable groups on Lesbos,” Sandrone said.

“This incident highlights a malignant symptom that needs to be addressed now,” he said, calling on authorities to “take all necessary measures against the growing anti-migrant rhetoric, aggression and violence circulating on Lesbos, and to take action against those who have harassed and attacked humanitarian actors without impunity immediately.”

“The isolation center was the only place on Lesbos providing a safe space in which people from Moria with COVID-19 symptoms could be isolated and offered medical care,” MSF said at the time in a statement shared with Newsweek.

Now, MSF’s new center is set to continue to provide care to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. However, the clinic is likely to continue to face opposition from anti-immigration groups.

So far, there has not been an outbreak of coronavirus at the Moria refugee camp, despite widespread overcrowding and limited access to sanitation.

However, humanitarian organizations like MSF have said it is crucial to stay vigilant, warning that an outbreak at the camp could cause major devastation to already vulnerable groups.

On the whole, Greece has had relatively low numbers of coronavirus cases identified. As of Friday, the country had 7,934 confirmed coronavirus cases identified, with 235 cases resulting in death, according to an online tracker maintained by the Johns Hopkins University.

Newsweek has contacted the Greek government for comment.

A boy walks in a improvised tents camp near the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos on June 21, 2020. MSF says it has seen growing opposition to its efforts to support migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Lesbos, Greece.ARIS MESSINIS /AFP/GETTY

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/anti-migrant-protesters-greece-msf-coronavirus-1526717?piano_t=1

The post ‘Anti-Migrant’ Protesters Set Fire, Throw Stones at MSF Clinic in Greece first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos is the biggest in Europe. Originally conceived to hold 3,000 people, there are now 13,000 people living in extremely cramped conditions in makeshift tents and containers.

So far, there has not been an outbreak of coronavirus — but NGOs are warning that it’s just a matter of time before an outbreak hits the island that is ill-equipped to cope.

Caroline Willemen, a field coordinator with Doctors Without Borders, is concerned about the situation. “I know that this is not a scientific comparison, but in a time when all major events have been canceled because there is too much risk of infection, this place is simply unthinkable,” she tells DW.

Caroline Willemen, from Belgium, works as a field coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Lesbos

In Mytilene, the capital of Lesbos, just 10 kilometers away, the virus is already spreading.

Generally, Greece has seen an increase in cases over recent days and weeks. Authorities have called on people to wear masks, socially distance, wash their hands, disinfect, and self-isolate if they feel unwell.

“This is totally unrealistic in Moria,” says Willemen. “Even if people spend as much time as possible in their tents, they still eat three times a day with thousands of other people. The same goes for the restrooms and showers. It is impossible to avoid the masses.”

It is also impossible to wash one’s hands regularly at the camp, she says, adding that because there are so many people in such a small space — with sub-standard hygienic standards — the conditions pave way for a rapid spread of the virus.

Crowds are impossible to avoid at Moria

Symbolic measures

So far, the Greek authorities have only implemented symbolic measures. In March, the government called on refugees and asylum seekers in Moria to follow hygiene and safety regulations, in addition to restricting their movement. Since then, only 150 people per hour have been allowed to leave the camp.

The rest of the population on Lesbos was also subject to a strict lockdown in spring but they have been allowed to move freely for almost two months. The people in Moria camp have seen restrictions on their freedom of movement extended seven times.

The number of boats arriving with refugees and asylum seekers from Turkey has increased significantly this summer. On arrival, they are questioned about possible COVID-19 symptoms and their temperatures are taken.

There are also two quarantine stations on the island where new arrivals have to spend a week, but the conditions are rather opaque, according to the freelance journalist Franziska Grillmeier, who has lived on the island for years.

She says the media has not been allowed to access the camps and that there are no medical or legal provisions. “Nobody knows exactly what happens there,” she tells DW.

“I understand that some people who are infected, but the problem is that for those who came to Lesbos before these new arrivals, the clock has been put back and they have to start their isolation from scratch if someone tests positive,” she adds.

Grillmeier says the government was using the COVID-19 pandemic to push through its own agenda. “To lock people up more. And to widen the divide between the Greek population and the refugees.”

Journalist Franziska Grillmeier has lived on Lesbos for years

Read more: Greece: Refugees attacked and pushed back in the Aegean

NGO threatened with legal action

The freedom of NGOs is also being restricted, says Grillmeier. “The fewer independent actors there are, the freer the government is.”

Willemen, with Doctors without Borders, has also seen a shift. “We had rented a warehouse and set up a COVID-19 clinic for refugees,” she explains, adding that the hospital in Mytilene had welcomed the move because there are only six intensive beds for a population of 100,000 on the island.

The plan had been to equip the makeshift clinic as soon as possible. But then the authorities sent a letter, telling the NGO that some of the island residents had complained. Doctors Without Borders was fined €35,000 and threatened with criminal charges related to urban planning regulations.

Willemen says she does not understand what happened, since Doctors Without Borders had informed the local authorities and national authorities of its plans — and had even invited officials to visit the clinic. Nonetheless, the clinic is now closed and the 50 members of staff who had been trained up to work there have lost their jobs.

“The fine is one thing but legal action is a risk that we cannot take,” Willemen says.

She adds that it will soon become clear that it was a mistake to forbid the clinic from opening.

“It is sheer luck that there has not been an outbreak yet,” she says, especially as there were 300 or 400 people who belonged to the high-risk category in the camp, and at least 48 people have tested positive on the island so far.

“It is possible that there are some positive asymptomatic cases. But we think that it is unlikely that the virus has spread widely because the chances of not seeing any symptomatic cases in a population of 13,000 are very slim.”

But, she says, it is only a matter of time until this all changes.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/europes-largest-refugee-camp-braces-for-covid-19-outbreak/a-54640747

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THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Several hundred asylum-seekers camped outside a police station Monday in northern Greece, lining up to be arrested and formally processed as a surge in illegal migration overwhelmed authorities in the region.

The post Migrants seeking winter shelter overwhelm northern Greece first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

An Ethiopian Christian priest blesses another refugee during a Sunday mass outside an orthodox church near Moria camp in the island of Lesbos, Greece. Many Migrants and refugees from Ethiopia and Eritrea take part in the Sunday services. – Petros Giannakouris , The Associated Press

LESBOS, Greece — At the heart of Moria, an overcrowded refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, is a dark rectangular building ringed with police guards and coils of razor wire. Taking photographs of it is prohibited.

It’s here that thousands of migrants are interviewed by asylum officers — and ultimately informed whether they will ever be allowed to leave the island.

Holding up a tattered asylum card that reads “Forbidden to travel outside Lesbos,” 40-year-old Syrian Ziad Rashid said he was supposed to be deported back to Turkey after he unsuccessfully appealed his failed application. But Turkey’s effective refusal to re-admit migrants means there’s nowhere he can go.

“I’ve been here for two years,” says Rashid, struggling to find the words in broken Greek and English. “It’s a big problem.”

Lesbos is facing a fourth summer of crisis. It’s one of five Greek islands near the coast of Turkey being used by the European Union to form a barrier to migration after more than a million people came through here in 2015-16, heading to western Europe.

But with 7,000 inhabitants, the refugee camp at Moria is now at more than 300 per cent capacity, and outbreaks of violence, often triggered by trivial disputes, are increasingly common. A clinic run by the aid group Doctors Without Borders helps treat the sick among the camp’s 2,000 children, but has to turn less serious cases away.

Even so, more keep arriving: The number of island arrivals has surged this year from about 50 a day in 2017 to around 200 a day in recent weeks. Asylum applications are backed up by nearly three years, according to Lesbos’ regional governor.

Currently, asylum seekers on five Aegean Sea islands — Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros, and Kos — are banned from travelling on to the Greek mainland as part of the European Union’s controversial “containment policy.” That’s causing severe overcrowding at the islands’ camps, and the government has faced legal challenges and protests against the measure.

Meanwhile, to try to bypass the islands, an even higher number of migrants and refugees are now crossing Greece’s heavily militarized land border with Turkey in the northeast of the country.

That has forced Greece to overhaul its policy, and parliament is now debating draft legislation aimed at easing pressure on the islands. Under the proposal, migrants would be allowed to move to camps on the Greek mainland, but they would remain under restriction and could be banned from leaving the regions of the country where they are placed.

The plan has already drawn fire from human rights groups, which argue that containment is to blame for poor living conditions on the islands.

“This situation causes distress, violates people’s rights, and insults the dignity of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. It’s an open wound for Greece and human rights,” Dimitra Spatharidou, from the Greek office of Amnesty International, told a parliamentary committee.

Amnesty observers recently visited island camps, and found hundreds of people sleeping in makeshift tents, children sleeping in unsupervised sites, and some resting in fields they say were overrun by rats.

“We saw dozens of men with papers in their hand saying they were suffering from depression, anxiety disorders, and had suicidal dispositions; terrified women at risk of sexual violence in a European country that should be providing them with safety,” Spatharidou said.

The government has also promised to speed up the processing of asylum claims by streamlining procedures and hiring additional staff and translators. But new arrivals on Lesbos and other islands are far outpacing the number of people being transported to the mainland on compassionate grounds or because their asylum applications have been approved.

Spread over a hillside, Moria’s shoebox-shaped trailers and tents are home to refugees from Syria, Iraq, Congo, and more than 50 other of the world’s black spots of war and hardship. The camp, crowded but still generally kept in good order, spills into the neighbouring fields, where asylum seekers — mostly African men — have little hope of leaving.

Serafin, from Togo, who was too afraid to appear on camera or give his last name, sleeps in a child-sized bunk bed. There are 70 more bunks like his wrapped in grey blankets for privacy and crammed into a single tent they call Little Turkey.

“It’s not easy, not easy at all. You can see where we sleep. And the smell,” he said, abruptly overcome by melancholy when asked about his prospects. “I don’t know what will happen. I miss my family.”

The island containment policy started two years ago, when the massive flow of migrants was halted. The EU encouraged countries on the route west to close their borders, asked NATO to patrol the eastern Aegean Sea, and pledged 6 billion euros ($7.1 billion) to Turkey to hold back migrants and accept deportations from Greece.

EU countries have accepted 22,000 refugees from Greece since the agreement between the EU and Turkey was reached, while just 2,000 have been deported to Turkey. That failed to offset new arrivals, and more than 16,000 migrants remain on the islands while more than 40,000 are on the mainland. A planned new round of resettlement has been complicated by the refusal of several EU members including Hungary and Poland to join the scheme.

Dimitris Vitsas, Greece’s migration minister, told parliament the new measures will need several months to take full effect.

“A period of difficulty lies ahead. We are fully aware of that fact,” he warned lawmakers.

Vitsas travelled to Lesbos last week, along with 19 other members of the cabinet and the prime minister, to promise more help to the island, from improvements in the ambulance service to faster farm subsidy payments.

In a town-hall meeting, Vitsas was berated by island residents complaining about petty crimes that have risen since the camps opened, and others who said they felt their good will toward people fleeing war had been exploited by Greek and European policy-makers.

Many island residents are angry to be missing out on a tourism boom that’s helping the country emerge from a decade of financial crisis. Business owners closed their stores for 24 hours in protest at the government visit, and street protests turned violent.

“We all welcomed the refugees. But there is a problem and it has to be taken seriously … We have a good quality of life here and it’s been taken away,” said Akis Argiropoulos, a hotel manager in the island’s capital, Mytilene. “Without the proper facilities and policing, the island cannot handle all of this burden.”

Source: https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8605990-lesbos-europe-s-migrant-barrier-nears-breaking-point/

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