Greece transfers hundreds of migrants from Lesbos island as conditions deteriorate

Record ID: 1435495

  • Title: Greece transfers hundreds of migrants from Lesbos island as conditions deteriorate
  • Date: 7th October 2019
  • Summary: PIRAEUS, GREECE (OCTOBER 7, 2019) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) VARIOUS OF FERRY CARRYING HUNDREDS OF MIGRANTS ARRIVING IN PIRAEUS IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS STANDING IN FRONT OF FERRY PLATFORM PREPARING TO DISEMBARK VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS DISEMBARKING VARIOUS OF MAN HOLDING BABY ON DOCK WAVING TO WOMAN HOLDING BABY DISEMBARKING FROM FERRY VARIOUS OF WOMAN CARRYING BABY WRAPPED IN A BLANKET DISEMBARKING PIRAEUS, GREECE (OCTOBER 7, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OTHER WOMAN HOLDING BABY WRAPPED IN BLANKET SEATED AT THE PORT VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SITTING ON THE GROUND ON DOCK IN PIRAEUS PORT SURROUNDED BY THEIR BAGS AND BELONGINGS, MAN CARRYING LARGE BOX WITH HIS BELONGINGS ON HIS SHOULDERS AND PUTTING IT DOWN VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WITH THEIR BELONGINGS GATHERED AT THE PORT VARIOUS OF MIGRANT FROM AFGHANISTAN, ZAHRA HOSSEINI, AGED 22, AND HER TWO-YEAR-OLD SON AT THE PORT SOUNDBITE (English) MIGRANT FROM AFGHANISTAN, ZAHRA HOSSEINI, AGED 22, SAYING: "We doesn't have any feel(ings) because Moria is bad, but we don't know about the future. We don't know what happen in the future - we go in the (more) evil than Moria camp or we go better than place. Just we pray to God to help us, we don't know about our future." VARIOUS OF WOMAN HOLDING BABY DRINKING MILK FROM BOTTLE VARIOUS OF OTHER WOMAN HOLDING BABY AND CHILD SEATED BESIDE THEM SOUNDBITE (English) INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, CHRISTINE NIKOLAIDOU, SAYING: "The decongestion of the Greek islands is a top priority for IOM (International Organisation for Migration) and given the situation there, given the overpopulation in Moria there is definitely a good day for those people that have been transferred from Moria to Vagiochori which is a decent place for a permanent stay." MIGRANTS PLACING THEIR BELONGINGS IN BUS, REFLECTION IN PUDDLE OF RAINWATER BOY WITH INJURED ARM ENTERING BUS BUS DOOR CLOSING BOY IN BUS LOOKING OUTSIDE THE WINDOW BUS LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2019 09:46
  • Keywords: Greece migrants Lesbos Piraeus
  • Location: PIRAEUS, GREECE
  • City: PIRAEUS, GREECE
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B03LFEV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hundreds of migrants arrived in Piraeus port on the Greek mainland on Monday (October 7) from the overcrowded Moria camp in Lesbos Island.
    More than 450 migrants, many of them families with children, disembarked from a ferry in the early morning hours and boarded buses taking them to a new camp set up in Vagiochori, Northern Greece.
    Zahra Hosseini, 22, from Afghanistan, who spent eight months in Moria with her husband and two-year-old son said she felt numb as she and her family arrived at the port, fearing the conditions in the new camp could be as bad as they were in Lesbos.
    International Organization For Migration Public Information Officer, Christine Nikolaidou, said it was a "good day" for those who were transferred as the camp in Vagiochori is "a decent place for a permanent stay."
    Greece, the route into Europe for nearly a million refugees and migrants in 2015, is dealing with a new and steep rise in people crossing the Aegean to its islands from neighbouring Turkey after a relative three-year lull.
    The influx has piled pressure on its massively overcrowded migrant camps and prompted the new conservative government to announce a stricter policy to curb the flows, which includes tightening its borders, finding new accommodation for migrants on the mainland, and deporting more people.
    Altogether there are about 14,400 migrants on Lesbos Island, UN refugee agency UNHCR says. The government run Moria camp is built for 3,000.
    Refugee agencies say the conditions have deteriorated due to the overcrowding, and the health and safety of the migrants is at risk due to unsanitary conditions and violence.
    On September 29 a fire in Moria camp killed one woman. Violent clashes between migrants and police ensued. In the following days the migrants held a demonstration raising signs reading "Moria is hell" and "Free us from hell".
    (Production: Vasilis Vafidis, Idyli Tsakiri, Deborah Kyvrikosaios)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register