Migrants in Greece tear gassed by police

MIGRANTS in Greece tear gassed by police in a protest for freedom.

Migrants in Greece tear gassed by police as a staunch protest to the new camp which replaced the previously burned down camp.

In the Moria camp, Greece, on the island of Lesbos, Greek police have doused protesting migrants with tear gas. The migrants have been left homeless having lost the little possessions they had in a fire which ravaged their previous encampment on Wednesday.

The squalid camp housed approximately 13,000 migrants and refugees are desperate to leave the island and its overcrowded conditions.

The altercation between the migrants and police tarted at the site of a temporary camp which had been built after the previous camp burnt down.

After fleeing the blaze which had engulfed the camp, migrants and refugees were forced to sleep on roads and in fields.

The original Moria camp had been built to accommodate 3,000 people, which extended to people from over 70 countries.

The camp residents approached the police blockade on Friday evening which is situated at the entrance to the Moria camp. They were holding placards labelled “Freedom” and opposing the construction of a new camp.

It is also understood that the local residents are firmly against the building of yet another new refugee camp in their area. There have even been active demonstrations which has halted aid deliveries to the camp.

Situations like this have further added fuel to the discussion surrounding how best to deal with the mass arrivals of migrants, especially in Italy and Greece, who are most prone to the arrivals. The topic has been heavily debated in the EU for years.

Italy and Greece have often criticised wealthier EU nations of doing little to help stem the crisis and accused them of failing to act appropriately due to their geographical position and, in fact, more northern nations have actively resisted taking their share of the migrant population.

In an open letter by a large group of migrant charities, they said, “The shameful situation in the camp and the fire disaster are the direct result of a failed European refugee policy – now the EU must finally help the people affected,”

Horst Seehofer, Germany’s Interior Minister, said that the fire in Moria was, “a sharp reminder to all of us for what we need to change in Europe”, Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.

Greek politician, Panagiotis Mitarachis, has said that the fires, “began with the asylum seekers because of the quarantine imposed”.

He has not, however, ascertained whether the fires were an act of arson or an accident.

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