The European Commission said, on Monday 14 September, that several Member States had provided Greece with equipment under the Civil Protection Mechanism with the dispatch of tents, accommodation units or medical containers after the fire at the Moria camp last Wednesday left more than 12,000 people homeless (see EUROPE 12558/12).
Greece “has now requested additional assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. As an immediate response, Denmark, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Germany donated hundreds of tents, blankets, winterization kits and sleeping bags”, said Crisis Management Spokesman Balazs Ujvari.
This new aid comes in addition to that sent by “Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands and France since April, which includes housing units, sleeping bags, mattresses, blankets, sheets, toiletries, four medical containers and a medical station”, the spokesman added.
No new relocation offers
However, the Commission has not announced more transfers of migrants to other Member States. On 11 September, several countries together with Germany had volunteered to take care of some of the most vulnerable people, including unaccompanied minors. France said, through its Minister for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, that it was ready to take in “a hundred” on its territory and, according to Bild, the German government is considering taking in “thousands” of people from Lesbos. German Chancellor Angela Merkel advocated a “European response” to the difficulties being encountered by Athens at the end of the EU-China summit held by videoconference (see other news).
The Greek government has not formally called for the activation of a major redistribution mechanism for migrants across the EU and, just the opposite, promised, on 13 September, to rebuild a permanent camp to accommodate people left homeless “within five days”, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi announced.
On Monday, the Greek Minister Delegate for Migration and Asylum, Geórgios Koumoutsákos, was in Brussels to take stock of the situation in Moria and on the ‘Pact on Asylum and Migration’. The presentation of this initiative has been brought forward to 23 September, confirmed the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. He was due to meet the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, and MEPs, including the Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spain). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)