THE SHAME ISLANDS (Greece)
Moria is no more! Europe's largest refugee camp went up in flames a few days ago. Thousands of refugees are now homeless, destitute, with nothing! 13,000 people now sleeping rough in the midst of the covid pandemic.
After a violent episode on the island last March, bringing locals and refugees into conflict, one wonders how the situation will be resolved and whether Europe will decide to intervene, or whether, as usual, it will confine itself to handing out money and leaving the problem as far away as Brussels and its neighboring member states.
For the time being, we have to react to the emergency, and so two Greek warships are due to arrive to house the refugees. (A situation which resembles all too closely the latest events, also last March, when 300 people were isolated in a warship in the port of Lesbos in deplorable hygienic conditions).
But the problem is not confined to Lesbos. In fact, camps of shame like Moria exist on several Greek islands, including Chios and Samos. In Vathy, on the island of Samos, 6,000 people live in the jungle next to the official camp. The official camp, known as a "hotspot", has only 600 places. The situation is just as catastrophic as on Lesbos, with lack of food, water and confinement. Hope of getting out of here is receding daily. The worst is to be feared.
According to the authorities, the fires in Moria camp were started by refugees, as a way of protesting against their situation and forcing the authorities to act! Whether this is true or not, as in Calais in 2016, the situation was too catastrophic to let people live like this. But what solutions are we going to bring to this crisis within the crisis? In the meantime, let's not forget what's happening on the other islands and the veritable prisons they constitute for all the refugees in these camps.
After a violent episode on the island last March, bringing locals and refugees into conflict, one wonders how the situation will be resolved and whether Europe will decide to intervene, or whether, as usual, it will confine itself to handing out money and leaving the problem as far away as Brussels and its neighboring member states.
For the time being, we have to react to the emergency, and so two Greek warships are due to arrive to house the refugees. (A situation which resembles all too closely the latest events, also last March, when 300 people were isolated in a warship in the port of Lesbos in deplorable hygienic conditions).
But the problem is not confined to Lesbos. In fact, camps of shame like Moria exist on several Greek islands, including Chios and Samos. In Vathy, on the island of Samos, 6,000 people live in the jungle next to the official camp. The official camp, known as a "hotspot", has only 600 places. The situation is just as catastrophic as on Lesbos, with lack of food, water and confinement. Hope of getting out of here is receding daily. The worst is to be feared.
According to the authorities, the fires in Moria camp were started by refugees, as a way of protesting against their situation and forcing the authorities to act! Whether this is true or not, as in Calais in 2016, the situation was too catastrophic to let people live like this. But what solutions are we going to bring to this crisis within the crisis? In the meantime, let's not forget what's happening on the other islands and the veritable prisons they constitute for all the refugees in these camps.
