Moria migrant camp an ‘insult’ to European values, insists MEP Philippe Lamberts

12 September, 2020 | Filed under: All News,more news,Opinion,RECENT POSTS,Somali news | Posted by:
Migrants argue for a crate of tomatoes during a food distribution on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020.
Migrants argue for a crate of tomatoes during a food distribution on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020.   –

Migrants argue for a crate of tomatoes during a food distribution on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020.   –

Around 3,500 thousand migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos are currently displaced following a series of fires that destroyed the overcrowded Moria camp earlier during the week.

They are now seeking shelter in makeshifts tents at the side of the road, while authorities are using a ferry and two navy ships as emergency facilities.

While some of the most vulnerable were already transferred from the island, Greece has still no plan in place to take the vast majority of the migrants off the street.

MEP and co-President of the Greens–European Free Alliance Philippe Lamberts told Euronews on Friday that “there’s a total lack of willingness” to address the issue on a European level, though it would be “pretty much within our abilities”.

“Even if we had to relocate all refugees that are on the Greek island today”, he said, “we would basically ask every city of 30,000 people to take one refugee. Just one”.

“We did not need a fire to come to the conclusion that Moria and other camps in the Greek island are an insult to human rights in general and to Europan values in particular”, he added.

The situation on the island remains critical for the migrants. They all want to leave but there doesn’t appear to be a safe destination for them right now or a concrete plan from the Greek government.

Watch the full interview with Philippe Lamberts and Apostolos Staikos’s report in the player above.