Greece: Fires at country's biggest refugee camp force thousands to flee
Local reports claim the blazes were聽started deliberately as a protest against lockdown measures recently imposed in the camp.
Wednesday 9 September 2020 12:05, UK
More than 12,000 people are in need of emergency shelter after fires tore through Greece's largest refugee camp.
The blazes broke out after midnight at the overcrowded Moria camp, which was originally meant to house about 2,000, on the island of Lesbos.
The site was "probably totally destroyed", according to a migration ministry official who said the government was struggling to find alternative shelter for the migrants gathered on streets outside.
"It's been a very difficult night," government spokesperson Stelios Petsas said.
The island has now been put under a state of emergency for four months for public health reasons, and police reinforcements have been sent to help keep order.
There are no reports of injuries, and fire and police services say the cause of the blazes remains unclear.
"The camp has been evacuated. All these people are on the national road towards (the town of) Mytilini," said witness Panagiotis Deligiannis.
"There are police out who are not letting them through. These people are sleeping left and right in the fields."
Local reports claim the fires were started deliberately as a protest against lockdown measures recently imposed in the camp.
Aid groups said it was impossible to implement social distancing and basic hygiene measures there as the site was so overcrowded.
The camp was put under quarantine last week after a Somali resident contracted coronavirus.
Some 35 people at the camp were confirmed to have the virus after tests were carried out.
They were understood to be being kept in isolation at a separate location close to the camp.
Other reports said the whereabouts of the 35 were unknown, raising concerns they might spread the virus on the island.
Mytilini mayor Stratis Kytelis said migrants would have to be moved or housed on ships to prevent further COVID-19 cases.
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Officials have not confirmed reports that protesters caused the fire - but firefighters have said they were met with "some resistance".
"There was not just one but many fires in the camp. Migrants threw stones at firefighters trying to put out the fires. The cause is under investigation," fire brigade chief Constantine Theophilopoulos told ERT TV.
Lesbos was Europe's busiest crossing point in 2015-16 for mass movement of refugees - many fleeing war in Syria and the so-called 'Islamic State' in Iraq.
This wave of migration led to Greece setting up several makeshift camps across the country and on its many islands, with the help of European Union funding.