The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, told members of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday (10 September) about the plight of thousands of people on the streets after the fire in the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Nevertheless, she assured that the situation on the ground had improved “over the last six months”.
While the situation is still “unacceptable” for the 12,700 people concerned, the Commissioner explained that things have improved since the beginning of the year, with the population in the camp rising from 12,000 to 25,000.
The LIBE Committee, chaired by Spain’s Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D), wanted to know how the Commission intended to respond to a “ tragic but, alas, foreseeable event”, the Spaniard reacted. Indeed, the LIBE Committee has repeatedly warned about the risks of disasters (humanitarian and other) to migrants in this overcrowded camp.
In the last few days, it still had more than three times its normal capacity, with 12,000 people for 3,000 places.
The President of LIBE was moved, as was the Commissioner, by the fact that these thousands of people are now forced “to sleep on the streets, without tents or the beginnings of a roof over their heads” and called on those responsible “to act with urgency and find systemic and lasting solutions”.
During this exchange of views, many called for a sustainable asylum reform and “permanent mechanisms through which each Member State plays its role”, said Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola (EPP), as the Commission is due to present its Pact on Asylum and Migration on 30 September.
“We are waiting for this Pact”, added Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew Europe, Netherlands), but “I will be against a Pact that reproduces (current) practices” with a multiplication of “Moria”.
Without giving much information on this Pact, which will already enable a faster response to disasters thanks to a sort of “pool of resources” identified in advance, the Commissioner acknowledged that a permanent solidarity mechanism was needed and that it was time to start a discussion again “on how this solidarity should be exercised ” in the EU.
But on Thursday she focused on Moria and called for no conclusions to be drawn until the circumstances of the fire are known. Clashes between migrants and the police in response to new quarantine measures could be the cause, while other media reports mentioned an electrical problem with faulty generators.
The Commission took charge of the transfer of 400 unaccompanied minors to the mainland and “there are almost no children or pregnant women left”, she said. The Commissioner also reiterated her offer of assistance to Greece, which on Thursday afternoon had still not requested the activation of the Civil Protection Mechanism. Parliament will take up the issue again on 17 September in a plenary debate. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)