Moria Refugee Camp

admin September 9, 2020 Daily Current Affairs

A fire broke out at Greece’s overcrowded migrant camp of Moria on the island of Lesbos.
In the Greek island of Lesbos is the Moria refugee camp, constructed for 2,000 people but now with a population of more than 12,000 men, women and children.
It has become a place of violence, deprivation, suffering and despair.
Lesbos, which lies just off the Turkish coast, was on the front line of a massive movement of refugees and migrants to Europe in 2015-2016.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, since March 1, all migrants reaching the island have been quarantined away from the camps.
In the Moria camp, aid groups have warned that social distancing and basic hygiene measures are impossible to implement due to the living conditions.
Wildfires fanned by strong winds were also burning in two other areas on the island.
Lesbos was Europe’s busiest crossing point in 2015-16 for illegal migration during a massive westward movement of refugees, many fleeing war in Syria and Iraq and travelling through Turkey.
After that wave of migration, Greece set up camps on Lesbos and four other islands, helped with European Union funding, and more recently also set up a network of camps on the mainland.