The situation in the new temporary refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos is worse than that in Moria camp, which burned down in September. That says the NGO Oxfam on Tuesday. About 8,000 people, mostly families with children, live in summer tents while winter is approaching.
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The aid agency sent employees to Lesvos, along with the Greek Refugee Council, to monitor the situation of the temporary camp after the Moria camp burned down in September. According to Greece, refugees deliberately set the camp on fire.
Moria 2.0
The relief workers indicated that the camp is not satisfactory. ‘The circumstances are terrible’, it sounds in a press release from Oxfam and the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), an NGO that provides legal assistance to refugees. There is barely running water, limited health care and no access to legal aid. Some tents are only 20 meters from the sea and are not shielded from the wind or rain.
The residents only get food once or twice a day and the food they get is not sufficient and of poor quality.
There is also hardly any sanitary facilities with running water, so many residents wash themselves in the sea. In addition, the corona precautions are inadequate. There is also no sewage system on the site, which was once a military firing range.
‘When Moria burned down, we heard strong statements from EU policymakers:’ No more Moria. ‘ But the new camp is rightly called Moria 2.0 ‘, according to Oxfam and GCR.
‘EU must support’
Oxfam calls on the member states of the European Union to take in refugees from the Greek island. In addition, the EU should support Greece and the NGOs to improve the situation in the camp.
Greece must then bring people from the islands to the mainland as quickly as possible. Parts of the new camp on Lesvos have already been under water due to heavy rains.
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