Migrant issue 'difficult situation', says minister, as Greece steps up transfers after Lesbos fire
Record ID:
1434380
Migrant issue 'difficult situation', says minister, as Greece steps up transfers after Lesbos fire
- Title: Migrant issue 'difficult situation', says minister, as Greece steps up transfers after Lesbos fire
- Date: 30th September 2019
- Summary: LESBOS, GREECE (SEPTEMBER 30, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING NEAR BURNT CONTAINERS IN MORIA CAMP VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS STANDING IN BURNT CONTAINERS VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING PAST FURNITURE AND OTHER ITEMS DESTROYED BY FIRE IN CAMP VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING AROUND CAMP, POLICE CARS AND VANS OUTSIDE MORIA CAMP DEPUTY CITIZEN PROTECTION MINISTER LEFTERIS ECONOMOU SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) DEPUTY CITIZEN PROTECTION MINISTER LEFTERIS ECONOMOU SAYING: "Today at noon, 250 people are scheduled to leave Moria for the mainland." ECONOMOU SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) DEPUTY CITIZEN PROTECTION MINISTER LEFTERIS ECONOMOU SAYING: "We are really going through a national crisis. It is essential that all of us together show responsibility, as the Greeks can show in hard times, to handle this difficult situation."
- Embargoed: 14th October 2019 11:59
- Keywords: Greece migrants fire camp Lesbos government measures Moria one dead
- Location: ATHENS AND LESBOS, GREECE
- City: ATHENS AND LESBOS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYUNCCN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Greece will keep moving asylum seekers from overcrowded camps on its islands to the mainland, government officials said on Monday (September 30), after a woman died following clashes and a fire at a migrants camp on the island of Lesbos.
"We are really going through a national crisis. It is essential that all of us together show responsibility, as the Greeks can show in hard times, to handle this difficult situation," said Deputy Citizen's Protection Minister Lefteris Economou from Lesbos.
Economou added 250 people would be transferred from Moria to the mainland by the end of Monday.
The violent clashes began at the Moria camp on Sunday after a fire broke out inside a shipping container where migrants are housed. At least 17 people were hurt, including one infant.
About 12,000 migrants and refugees are holed up in Moria camp, according to refugee agency UNHCR, four times its capacity.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held a cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss the issue. Last month the government announced measures to speed up asylum applications and move migrants off the islands to the mainland, as the country is witnessing a new surge in arrivals from Turkey.
Charity Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) says about 24,000 migrants and refugees are trapped on Greek islands camps in "horrendous" conditions, with overcrowding causing a deterioration in sanitation facilities, a lack of safety, and increasing violence.
(Production: Vassilis Triandafyllou, Deborah Kyvrikosaios, Idyli Tsakiri) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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