Just over 6% of the 12,500 people left homeless last week by the fire that destroyed Greece's biggest camp for refugees and migrants have been rehoused in a new temporary facility under construction on the island of Lesbos, authorities said Monday.
By Monday afternoon, about 800 people had entered the new tent city, hastily set up by the sea a few kilometers from the gutted Moria camp, migration ministry officials said.
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Just over 6% of the 12,500 people left homeless last week by the fire that destroyed Greece's biggest camp for refugees and migrants have been rehoused in a new temporary facility under construction on the island of Lesbos, authorities said Monday.
Authorities say the blazes last Tuesday and Wednesday in Moria, where thousands of people arrive every year after crossing illegally from nearby Turkey, were started by camp residents angry at quarantine orders imposed after 35 people in the facility tested positive for COVID-19.
Several hundred women and children held a protest march along the Moria-to-Mytilene road Monday, chanting: “No camp, freedom.”
Under EU rules, people reaching Greece’s eastern Aegean islands from Turkey must stay in camps at their points of arrival pending examination of their asylum bids. This led to overcrowding and squalid living conditions for camp residents that were repeatedly criticised by human rights organizations. It also triggered resentment among Lesbos’ Greek population.
Greek authorities plan to build a new facility for future arrivals that will replace Moria.
Migrants try to fill water from a plastic pipe as a woman cooks in a field near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Migrants shout slogans during a protest near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Migrants shout slogans during a protest near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Migrants and refugees wash in a field near the burned Moria camp on island of Lesbos, Greece, Sunday Sept. 13, 2020. Greek authorities have been scrambling to find a way to house more than 12,000 people left in need of emergency shelter on the island after the fires deliberately set on Tuesday and Wednesday night gutted the Moria refugee camp. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Migrants shout slogans during a protest near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Thousands remained camped out for a sixth day along a road leading from Moria to the island capital of Mytilene, with police blocking the way into town to prevent asylum-seekers trying to board ferries for the Greek mainland instead of entering the new camp.
Migrants shout slogans during a protest near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Authorities say the blazes last Tuesday and Wednesday in Moria, where thousands of people arrive every year after crossing illegally from nearby Turkey, were started by camp residents angry at quarantine orders imposed after 35 people in the facility tested positive for COVID-19.
Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said there's space for about 5,000 people so far in the new camp, on a former military firing range at Kara Tepe near Mytilene. He also said everyone left homeless by the Moria fire will be able to relocate to Kara Tepe within the next few days.
Officials said the gap between available spaces and residents in the new camp is largely due to the unwillingness of many asylum-seekers to settle in. Many had hoped that with Moria destroyed they would be allowed to head for the Greek mainland, or even other European Union countries.
Migrants carrying their belongings, walk on a road near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Several hundred women and children held a protest march along the Moria-to-Mytilene road Monday, chanting: “No camp, freedom.”
But government officials said the only way for former Moria camp residents to leave Lesbos would be to move to the new facility and successfully apply there for asylum.
“Moving to the new camp is not optional, it's obligatory,” Mitarachi said in an interview with Parapolitika Radio.
A migrant woman using a bottle of water, shaves a man in a field near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Under EU rules, people reaching Greece’s eastern Aegean islands from Turkey must stay in camps at their points of arrival pending examination of their asylum bids. This led to overcrowding and squalid living conditions for camp residents that were repeatedly criticised by human rights organizations. It also triggered resentment among Lesbos’ Greek population.
Asylum-seekers entering Kara Tepe are tested for COVID-19 as part of the registration process, and 15 infected people have been recorded so far. All were moved to isolation facilities.
Greece's minister responsible for public order, Michalis Chryssohoidis, said Monday he hoped a continued reduction in migration flows from nearby Turkey and a speedy processing of asylum applications should mean the last of the refugees and migrants currently on Lesbos would have left by spring.
A migrant collapses during a prayer on the road near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. Greece's prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Greek authorities plan to build a new facility for future arrivals that will replace Moria.
Children play as migrants gather on the roadside near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Migrants try to fill water from a plastic pipe as a woman cooks in a field near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Migrants shout slogans during a protest near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Migrants shout slogans during a protest near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Migrants and refugees wash in a field near the burned Moria camp on island of Lesbos, Greece, Sunday Sept. 13, 2020. Greek authorities have been scrambling to find a way to house more than 12,000 people left in need of emergency shelter on the island after the fires deliberately set on Tuesday and Wednesday night gutted the Moria refugee camp. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Migrants shout slogans during a protest near Mytilene town, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Greece's prime minister demanded Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)