Four Migrants Charged with Arson for Lesbos Fire Involvement

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But many are reluctant to go to a new facility they fear could end up like the squalid Moria camp.

The UN refugee agency's representative in Greece, Philippe Leclerc, said about 1,100 people, mostly those considered vulnerable, had been housed at the new site by Wednesday afternoon, but that up to 8,000 could be accommodated.

Leclerc encouraged more of the Moria camp's former residents to move there.

Greek officials have said they could forcibly remove people from the road near the burned-out camp where they have been sleeping rough and take them to the camp if people refuse to go.

Leclerc noted that relocation to other European countries would only be for “a limited number of persons, in particular the unaccompanied children and some more vulnerable individuals".

Several European countries have pledged to take in some of the unaccompanied minors who were staying in Moria.

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“We asked for the support of other European countries to continue assisting Greece, which is hosting...more than 100,000 asylum-seekers and refugees,” Leclerc said.

He stressed violence was not a solution for migrants and refugees to get off the island.

“Despair is understandable, but it cannot justify the violence,” Leclerc said.

"Violence...and burning will not provide any solution. We need (a) peaceful, orderly way of getting people out of Lesbos gradually. And this is what we are supporting.” 

(Writers: Vangelis Papantonis, Derek Gatopoulos)

Source: https://apnews.com/article/archive-arson-greece-bb92ce89afaeac164a5262f25259ebd9