A Greek police operation is underway on the island of Lesbos to maneuver hundreds of migrants and refugees left homeless after a hearth destroyed their overcrowded camp into a brand new facility on the island.
Police mentioned Thursday morning’s operation included 70 feminine law enforcement officials who had been approaching asylum-seekers with the intention of persuading them to maneuver to the brand new camp within the island’s Kara Tepe space. No violence was reported because the operation started.
The notoriously squalid Moria camp burned down final week in fires that Greek authorities mentioned had been intentionally set by a small group of the camp’s inhabitants angered by lockdown restrictions imposed after a coronavirus outbreak.
The blazes have left greater than 1,200 folks in want of emergency shelter. The overwhelming majority have been sleeping tough by the aspect of a street main from Moria to the island capital of Mytilene, erecting makeshift shelters manufactured from sheets, blankets, reeds and cardboard.
The brand new camp consists of huge household tents erected in a area by the ocean. By Wednesday night time, it had a capability of round 8,000 folks, based on the UN refugee company, however solely round 1,100 largely susceptible folks had entered.
New arrivals are examined for the coronavirus, registered and assigned a tent.
“That is an operation for the safety of public well being and with a transparent humanitarian content material,” the police mentioned in an announcement.
Six Afghans, together with two minors, had been arrested on suspicion of inflicting final week’s fires at Moria. The blazes broke out after isolation orders had been issued throughout a generalized camp lockdown, when 35 folks examined constructive for the coronavirus.
Moria had a capability of simply over 2,700 folks, however greater than 12,500 folks had been dwelling in and round it when it burned down. The camp and its squalid situations had been held up by critics as an emblem of Europe’s failed migration insurance policies.
© 2020 The Canadian Press
