Fires at Greek island refugee camp force evacuation

Fire in the Vathy refugee camp, Samos. /P. Rafiei

Fires have caused the partial evacuation of a refugee camp on the Greek island of Samos. Firefighters are still tackling the blazes, although they are under control.

A member of the local fire service told the Associated Press one blaze broke out just outside the main camp, in an overflow area where shacks house migrants as well as medical and support facilities. But they said the main camp remains intact.

There were at least two separate fires, one that started early on Sunday evening and a larger one later in the night. The cause is unknown and a police investigation is under way.

Doctors Without Borders, a non-governmental organization, said in a tweet the earlier fire left around 100 people without shelter after their tents were burned. It is not known how many other refugees have been left without shelter as the result of the bigger fire, but some have been escorted by police to a square in the nearby town of Vathy.

Refugees wait for the fire to be extinguished. /P. Rafiei

Pasha Rafiei, a refugee who has been waiting in the camp for more than a year, told CGTN Europe: "Many families are homeless because their tents were destroyed in the fire. They don't have food, clothing or shelter, all their belongings left outside. The water and electricity are off, only a small part of the camp has electricity."

"Conditions on the islands are shocking and shameful," the UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, said in late February. "Greece – with European support – has to act now to deal with an untenable situation, while the longer-term measures are put in place."

Smoke billows from the fire at the Vathy migrant camp on Samos, Greece. /P. Rafiei

However, the COVID-19 outbreak has only slowed down the processing of the asylum seekers. Those being kept in the overcrowded island camps are increasingly in despair over the conditions and the slow processing of their asylum applications and are eager to move out. Violence has flared up, either among migrants or directed at authorities.

"The fire is the result of a struggle between ethnic groups in the camp," said Rafiei. "The refugees are suffering while Europe is on lockdown because of the pandemic. We have been stuck here for a year without basic necessities and living in unsafe conditions. The police have become more aggressive and insult us. The people have lost hope and are looking for an outlet for their anger."

Sources: AP