The European Commission and international organisations including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have offered their support to the Greek authorities to evacuate and relocate migrants from the Moria camp in Lesbos, which was “99% destroyed” by a massive fire on the evening of 8 September, according to Greek media reports.
On 9 September, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “deeply saddened” and asked Vice-President Margarítis Schinás, who is responsible for promoting the European way of life, to “go to Greece as soon as possible”. The priority is to “keep people who are homeless safe”, she said.
Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson announced on Twitter that the Commission would “fund” the immediate transfer to the continent of 400 unaccompanied minors still in Moria. 640 minors have already been relocated to the EU (out of a promise of 1,600), and the Greek government has also transferred minors to the continent in recent months.
During the morning, the German government also called on Member States to take in some of these homeless people.
“We need to determine as soon as possible how we can support Greece. This aid includes a distribution among EU countries that are prepared to receive [migrants]”, said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Twitter.
The Vice-President in charge of interinstitutional relations, Maroš Šefčovič, said for his part that the immediate needs, including shelters and medical equipment, would be identified quickly with the Greek authorities. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO), for its part, has indicated that it had to temporarily suspend its activities.
Moria camp, one of the hotspots set up after 2015, has been overcrowded for years, regularly raising concerns among NGOs. There are more than 12,000 asylum seekers in the camp - which has a capacity of 4,000 - including 4,000 children, according to UNHCR.
According to Greek media reports, the fire was linked to new measures imposed by the authorities to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the camp, which the migrants could not tolerate.
The Commission regularly calls on Member States to relieve crowding in the camps on the Greek islands, and more than €2 billion has been paid to Greece since 2015 to manage migration.
The Commission intends to remedy these issues in its Asylum and Migration Pact, which it confirmed on Wednesday would be published by 30 September. The goal is reportedly to identify more quickly the persons entitled to asylum, who can then be allocated among the Member States. Additional identification centres supported by the EU would therefore have to be set up in these same frontline countries to carry out this work of receiving and screening of migrants.
In addition, a special regime would be created for those rescued at sea, who should, in theory, be immediately allocated. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)