Police fire teargas as migrants demand to leave Greek island after fire

[rooster59]

Police fire teargas as migrants demand to leave Greek island after fire

By Lefteris Papadimas

 

Refugees and migrants from the destroyed camp of Moria flee tear gas fired by riot police during clashes, on the island of Lesbos, Greece, September 12, 2020. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

 

LESBOS, Greece (Reuters) - Angry migrants left homeless by a blaze at Europe's largest refugee centre demanded to leave the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday as authorities opened up new tent shelters and European leaders faced growing calls to take in more of the displaced.

 

More than 12,000 people, most from Africa and Afghanistan, have been sleeping rough since flames swept through the notoriously squalid and overcrowded Moria camp earlier this week. Some residents had COVID-19, raising fears the outbreak could spread.

 

Under a hot sun on Saturday, hundreds of migrants, many chanting "Freedom" and "No Camp", gathered as bulldozers cleared ground in preparation for tents to be put up.

 

Some carried handwritten signs carrying messages including "We don't want to go to a hell like Moria again" and "Can you hear us Mrs Merkel?" in an appeal to the German chancellor.

 

"The fire made things much more difficult," said Sajida Nazari, a 23-year-old student from Afghanistan who has been on Lesbos for over a year. "We don't have food, we don't have water, we don't have freedom."

 

Police briefly fired rounds of teargas when some of the protesters attempted to march down a road leading to the island's main port of Mytilene, which police had blocked while work on the new tent settlement continued nearby.

 

The fire at the camp, which was holding four times the number of people it was supposed to, has returned the spotlight to the migration crisis facing the European Union, which has struggled to find a response that goes beyond temporary fixes.

 

German Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Europe to accept more refugees but the difficulty of reaching an accord was underlined by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who ruled out taking more in. [L8N2G90ES]

 

Greek authorities have refused any mass transfer off the island, located a few miles off the Turkish coast, despite growing hostility from local residents angry after years at the front line of the crisis.

 

But officials said they were determined to provide shelter and proper sanitation and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.

 

"As of today, asylum seekers will start coming into the tents, into safe conditions," Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi told reporters at the site.

 

The need to bring the situation under control has been made more urgent by the fact that authorities have lost track of 35 camp residents who had tested positive for coronavirus.

 

Health authorities have promised to conduct rapid tests at the entrance of the new camp, with a quarantine unit ready for anyone testing positive.

 

Still, the unsanitary conditions being endured by Moria's former inhabitants in the fields and streets of Lesbos has caused deep alarm.

 

"This is a health bomb. These people haven't even had access to water all these days, they cannot even wash their hands," Matina Pagoni, president of Athens and Piraeus hospital doctors' union, told Skai television.

 

(Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens, Kirsti Knolle in Vienna, Christian Kraemer in Berlin; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Helen Popper and Christina Fincher)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-09-13

 

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[LomSak27]

Greece should send them back to Turkey, the country that permitted them to cross in the first place. Let their muslim brothers care for them.

[Enzian]

This piece leave out the detail provided yesterday that there are plausible reports that the migrants were themselves responsible for the fire(s). This is like someone saying Give me money or I will shoot myself right now. Which is exactly what is happening off the north coast of Africa, where people set out in boats that could not take one big chance wave, effectively saying Pick us up and take us to Italy or we will drown and make Europe look bad. The Italian island of Lampedusa, close to Tunisia, with a population of somewhat over 6000 Italians, the last time I looked had over 1500 migrants with the number constantly rising while the Conte government keeps its head in the sand. As with Lesbos, all those people want to go to the mainland, and will parade their misery till it happens.

[bert bloggs]

If they demand to leave the Island ,why stop them ,they can go home anytime they like

[FritsSikkink]

10 minutes ago, bert bloggs said:

If they demand to leave the Island ,why stop them ,they can go home anytime they like

Just like the people who don't have a visa for Thailand.

[izod10]

Greece needs to pull out of the human rights convention,just as Boris has announced his intention for the UK. Unlike the UK tho those Greek islands are perfect to contain them....for UK  looks like a corner of the IoM is favoured

[tomazbodner]

Demanding to leave camp they burned down by themselves?

Let them leave, I hear Libya is lovely this time of the year...

 

These are not refugees. They are economic migrants. So reject their asylum applications and send them back to where they came from.

[trainman34014]

Don't you just love the way they 'demand' everything !    Seems they have forgotten they weren't wanted in Europe to start with and until Western Governments stop bending over backwards to Snowflakes and start sending people back on the next available boat, these 'demands' will become ever louder until they have taken over the whole of Europe !!

[RichardColeman]

ALL migration to Europe should be set - if at all - to one man , one women - no more. Currently it appears to be 99 men to 1 women. Who exactly are these men going to breed with ? 

[bert bloggs]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

ALL migration to Europe should be set - if at all - to one man , one women - no more. Currently it appears to be 99 men to 1 women. Who exactly are these men going to breed with ? 

the women they bring over once they get a leave to remain.

[simple1]

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

ALL migration to Europe should be set - if at all - to one man , one women - no more. Currently it appears to be 99 men to 1 women. Who exactly are these men going to breed with ? 

 

The distribution of first-time asylum applicants by sex shows that more men (61.9 %) than women (38.1 %) were seeking asylum. Plenty of other detail...

 

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Asylum_statistics

[4737 Carlin]

7 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Just like the people who don't have a visa for Thailand.

Nobody who lives here in Thailand is expecting a free ride. We contribute. These 'migrants' should fix their own countries. Europeans have had enough of their entitled scrounging.

[Morch]

10 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

Greece should send them back to Turkey, the country that permitted them to cross in the first place. Let their muslim brothers care for them.

 

How do you suggest "sending" them would work? Turkey won't receive them, and given tension already high between the two countries over a different issue, this could cause a worse crisis. Suppose they somehow get them to the border, and the Turkish refuse to let them in, what then?

[Opl]

Irregular  mass migration + Camps destruction + Protests, enhance Erdogan's blackmailing tactics on European countries, 

 

 

[dieter1]

more propaganda from REUTERS

as Reuters always have a political agenda, they did not mention that:

all these fires were arsons. It was part of a very well orchestrated propaganda set up .

As everybody can see (if you want), these fires were made at many  different places in the camp and they even make new one when  there were attempts to extinguish the fires in the middle of the camp.

There a some radical groups in the camps working together with so called "NGOs", who are indeed radical political groups well connected to their buddies in Germany etc. . The lefts political parties did (coincidently !) start this propaganda before the burning down started.

Reuters do know all these facts but, of course does not tell you.

The Greek government does declare that they are not willing to bring these  migrants  to the mainland, cause this what mean to surrender/give in to this evil blackmailing.

If you are interested in all these facts you will find it. (if you want...).

and all this "no food, no water " is just propaganda. Of course there is some interuption of delivering when they burn down the places and make chaos all over the island. but this doesnt mean, these young men will die because of this.  

 

[dieter1]

3 hours ago, simple1 said:

The distribution of first-time asylum applicants by sex shows that more men (61.9 %) than women (38.1 %) were seeking asylum. Plenty of other detail...

 

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Asylum_statistics

in these numbers, there are people from east Europe, Serbia, Kosovo etc included. If you would look for the numbers of migrants (pretending to need asyl) from Africa or Afganistan you will see total different numbers.

[Letseng]

10 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

If they demand to leave the Island ,why stop them ,they can go home anytime they like

Yes, they want to leave the island with a ticket to Germany.. Not back to where they set off from. This is the problem.

[Opl]

2 hours ago, dieter1 said:

all these fires were arsons.

 

- septembre 2016 " Fire in Greek refugee camp 'was intentional and will happen again. Migrants at the camp told MEE that the blaze was started out of frustration with delays in the asylum procedure and their detention in the camp. Rami Alam, an Egyptian migrant in the camp, said that the fire was started on purpose and that the perpetrators intended to repeat the act if they were not moved from the camp onto the mainland."

https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/news/fire-greek-refugee-camp-was-intentional-and-will-happen-again-eyewitnesses-1278729650

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37413710

 

-"Once again in 2017, migrants set fire to the Moria camp on Lesbos after a woman and her six-year-old child died in a gas cylinder explosion while they were cooking. Migrants, reacting to what was clearly an accident, reacted by rioting and committing arson."

https://rmx.news/article/article/greece-migrants-deliberately-set-fire-to-moria-camp-once-again-this-time-destroying-it-entirely

 

-"In 2019, migrants once again set the Moria camp on fire on Lesbos during rioting, with two separate fires started within 20 minutes of each other, resulting in the death of a mother and her child. Notably, migrants demanded access to the mainland of Greece during the riots, according to RFE/RL."

 

- april 2020: "migrants rioted, attacked police and set fires at a migrant camp on the Greek island of Chios following rumors that a 47-year-old woman in the camp died of coronavirus.The hospital on the island of Chios where she was treated later denied reports that the woman had been infected with the coronavirus and said she only suffered from a high fever."

https://rmx.news/article/article/video-migrants-at-greek-camp-riot-and-set-fires-on-chios-island

 

"The Greek government will not be blackmailed. What happened -- this 'burn and go' tactic -- will not be tolerated, It is not a solution to the problem if, after each incident or emergency, other European countries are asked to accept refugees." 

https://rmx.news/article/article/greece-migrants-deliberately-set-fire-to-moria-camp-once-again-this-time-destroying-it-entirely

 

sounds familiar? 

 

 

 

[impulse]

3 hours ago, 4737 Carlin said:

Nobody who lives here in Thailand is expecting a free ride. We contribute. These 'migrants' should fix their own countries. Europeans have had enough of their entitled scrounging.

 

If only centuries of Euro colonialism hadn't left their home countries in smoking heaps when the Euros bankrupted each other with incessant wars and had to abandon the colonies they could no longer afford.  It's going to take centuries to clean up the messes they left behind, starting with the artificial borders that made no sense at all.

 

[Opl]

22 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

If only centuries of Euro colonialism hadn't left their home countries in smoking heaps when the Euros bankrupted each other with incessant wars and had to abandon the colonies they could no longer afford.  It's going to take centuries to clean up the messes they left behind, starting with the artificial borders that made no sense at all.

 

Countries which regained their independence some 70 years ago even became poorer than there were before,  in other words the locals impoverished their countries more than the colonizers.

Compare the wealth of underdeveloped countries heads of state to western leaders' wealth  and you will understand why they will always remain underdeveloped.

Visit hospitals and see who gets treatment at home and who gets treatment abroad, you' ll understand why these countries remain underdeveloped

Visit the jails of those countries and ask the prisoners what crimes they committed and you will understand why these countries are underdeveloped.

 

Underdevelopment is first and foremost  the consequence  of corruption, injustices and top-ranking thieves

 

 

[Morch]

43 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

If only centuries of Euro colonialism hadn't left their home countries in smoking heaps when the Euros bankrupted each other with incessant wars and had to abandon the colonies they could no longer afford.  It's going to take centuries to clean up the messes they left behind, starting with the artificial borders that made no sense at all.

 

What have the Romans ever done for us?

 

[Stargeezr]

Maybe there should be a bunch of ships made available to take these refugees back to Africa, and the other countries that they came from.    Put up camps in their own countries and make it clear that Europe does not have jobs for most of them. It is sort of like tough love. Maybe called harsh reality, as Europe has enough troubles and the other countries should see that Turkey, and Greece and these coastal countries do not need this problem.  Oh I know the country that a lot of these people came from had problems as well, but hasn't the fighting stopped mostly in a lot of the  countries? 

   Time to get a bunch of these people back to their own country where they can start helping to rebuilt them.  Just a suggestion.

Geezer 

  

[simple1]

10 hours ago, dieter1 said:

in these numbers, there are people from east Europe, Serbia, Kosovo etc included. If you would look for the numbers of migrants (pretending to need asyl) from Africa or Afganistan you will see total different numbers.

It is well known the majority of asylum seekers from Western Balkan countries are 'economic refugees' though rarely mentioned by the right wing. Please provide link / paste info which support your claim, if I interpret your post correctly, the majority of asylum seekers from Africa and Afghanistan have been designated 'economic refugees'.

[simple1]

11 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Maybe there should be a bunch of ships made available to take these refugees back to Africa, and the other countries that they came from.    Put up camps in their own countries and make it clear that Europe  does not have jobs for most of them. It is sort of like tough love. Maybe called harsh reality, as Europe has enough troubles and the other countries should see that Turkey, and Greece and these coastal countries do not need this problem.  Oh I know the country that a lot of these people came from had problems as well, but hasn't the fighting stopped mostly in a lot of the countries? 

   Time to get a bunch of these people back to their own country where they can start helping to rebuilt them.  Just a suggestion.

Geezer 

  

Ever heard of "non-refoulement"?

[simple1]

8 hours ago, Opl said:

Countries which regained their independence some 70 years ago even became poorer than there were before,  in other words the locals impoverished their countries more than the colonizers.

Compare the wealth of underdeveloped countries heads of state to western leaders' wealth  and you will understand why they will always remain underdeveloped.

Visit hospitals and see who gets treatment at home and who gets treatment abroad, you' ll understand why these countries remain underdeveloped

Visit the jails of those countries and ask the prisoners what crimes they committed and you will understand why these countries are underdeveloped.

 

Underdevelopment is first and foremost  the consequence  of corruption, injustices and top-ranking thieves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other words, a failure inthe hand over transformation process, decolonisation became neo colonialism

[Scott]

Offensive, inappropriate troll posts removed. 

 

[spiekerjozef]

21 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

If they demand to leave the Island ,why stop them ,they can go home anytime they like

or knock on Saudi Arabia's door.

[Morch]

1 hour ago, spiekerjozef said:

or knock on Saudi Arabia's door.

 

Could be wrong, but I think Saudi Arabia still 'hosts' more refugees (or whatever they are labeled as) than Greece.

[Opl]

2 hours ago, simple1 said:

In other words, a failure inthe hand over transformation process, decolonisation became neo colonialism

a little bit too easy... 

China in Africa isn't a former colonizer 

 

[polpott]

3 minutes ago, Opl said:

a little bit too easy... 

China in Africa isn't a former colonizer 

 

No, a future one.