By Andriana Simos and Argyro Vourdoumpa.

Fire struck again Wednesday night in Greece’s notoriously overcrowded refugee camp on the island of Lesvos, a day after a blaze swept through it and left thousands in need of emergency shelter. The fires caused no injuries, but they renewed criticism of Europe’s migration policy.

Later, about 4,000 migrants who had left the camp for the island’s main port of Mytilene to board ships for the mainland, threw stones at police blocking the road, and officers responded with tear gas, police said.

Moria had been under a coronavirus lockdown when the first fire gutted a large section of it, and health officials said some of those who had tested positive for the virus had fled.

“The combination of migration and the pandemic in these conditions is creating an exceptionally demanding situation,” Alternate Migration Minister, Giorgos Koumoutsakos, said.

Civil protection authorities declared a four-month state of emergency for public health reasons on Lesvos.

Officials said the original fire was started by camp residents angered by the lockdown measures and isolation orders imposed after 35 people tested positive for COVID-19.

The exact cause of the first blaze was being investigated, but “what is certain is that the fire was started because of the quarantine by asylum-seekers in the facility,” said Migration Minister, Notis Mitarachi.

“Instances of unlawful behavior such as the ones we experienced yesterday will not be left unpunished,” Mitarachi said. “Such behavior is not acceptable, and also respect for law and order is a necessary precondition for the asylum process.”

“Locals are scared”:

In dramatic scenes early Wednesday, men, women and children fled fires that broke out during the night at multiple points and were fanned by gale-force winds. Firefighters said protesting camp residents hampered their efforts to put out the blaze.

Nita Loukadellis (Λαμπρινή Λουκαδέλλη), sister of the President of the Greek Orthodox Community of Canberra, John Loukadellis, has lived in Antissa, Lesvos, a village 65 kms west of Moria, for the last 10 years and describes her experience as ‘scary.’

“There was a fire here in the village but firefighters got it under control. My relatives in Australia were worried,” Mrs Loukadellis tells The Greek Herald exclusively.

“Locals are scared and we believe that the number of them [refugees] infected with the virus on the island are many more than what is being announced.

“We hear that they will be transferred to Athens or the authorities will find them temporary shelters on the island. What I know is that locals are suffering and we are not prepared for more riots like last February.

“People in the city of Mytilene are locked up in their homes. The island has been facing a crisis since 2014 and no one is really acting.”

Criticism from aid agencies:

Aid agencies have long warned of dire conditions at Moria, where more than 12,500 people live in and around a facility built to house just over 2,750.

The camp, housing those fleeing violence and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan, has become a symbol of what critics say is Europe’s failure to humanely handle the migration and refugee situation.

Ihab Abassi, is a Field Coordinator Assistant with Medecins Sans Frontieres and has been living in Mytilene for the last 5 years.

“People are in the streets. They self-evacuated and they had nowhere to go,” he tells The Greek Herald. We asked him to describe the situation and he replied “in one word, chaos.”

Amnesty International’s migration researcher, Adriana Tidona, added “reckless EU policies” were to blame for the overcrowding in Moria.

“As the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is finalised, this is a timely indictment of the current policy of camps and containment,” she said.

Europe responds to the crisis:

Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said the incident had shown that the situation on Lesvos is untenable and that Greece needs the help of its EU allies in managing the situation.

“It’s a question of public health, of humanity, but also national security,” he said in a statement broadcast by ERT.

The first blaze left about 3,500 camp residents homeless after the fire destroyed administration buildings and a health facility, but only one section of living quarters.

Greek Migration Minister Mitarachi said those left homeless will be housed temporarily in tents flown to the island and aboard a ferry and two navy ships.

The European Union has also responded, pledging immediate financial support for refugees who have been left stranded.

Dutch Development Cooperation Minister, Sigrid Kaag, pledged a further $1.1 million in emergency aid for Greece to help the country provide accommodation, housing and care for migrants. 

“We are in solidarity with the refugees and migrants and with the Greeks,” Kaag said.

The Greek Community of Melbourne has called for an increase in pensions in a letter to the Federal Government, due to the recent announcement of the Ministry of Social Services that Australian pensioners will not receive an automatic indexation increase this year, on the grounds that inflation has fallen.

In its letter, the Community points out that many of its members are elderly and rely on their pensions as their only source of income. They stressed that after the announcement of the ministry, many people contacted the Community asking for clarification of this decision, as well as to express their concerns.

The Greek Community of Melbourne notes that not providing an annual increase to retirees will result in significant reduction in quality of life for many.

“We do not think this is the right way to deal with some of the most vulnerable in Australia, especially in these emotional and difficult times. That is why we are asking the Federal Government to consider increasing pensions despite index,” the Greek Community of Melbourne says.

READ MORE: Greek Federation asks Scott Morrison to include dental care for pensioners in Medicare

The Community states in its letter that “if the increase in pensions is not possible from the budget, due to the Federal Government’s expenditure on maintaining and creating jobs in these difficult times, for which we applaud the Government, there may be other ways in which a retiree can be helped.”

The Community has listed the following ways that external support can be achieved:

1. Adjustment of the control limit of retirees’ assets
   • In recent years, the increase in property values ​​has far exceeded the index. However, the increases in pension asset control thresholds do not reflect this increase. As a result, many retirees receive a reduced pension without any other source of income. This has led many of our Community members into very difficult situations.

2. Regulation of utilities, health and insurance services
   • As the Federal Government is well aware (as the issue dominated the election campaign), sectors such as utilities (water, electricity, gas), insurance and health have seen their costs increase from year to year more than the index. As a result, an increased portion of each retiree’s pension is available to meet these needs, resulting in a consistently reduced quality of life.

The Community adds that the Federal Government, with the help of state governments, should seek to better regulate utilities, health care and insurance to reduce and better manage continuous and excessive annual increases.

“This will have a minimal cost for the Federal Government. However, the benefits will be great and will be welcomed by all Australians, especially retirees and low-income earners,” the Community said.

“It will also mean that Australians will have additional funds to spend on the market, and to stimulate the economy by spending money on small shops / businesses that are the main employers in Australia.”

The Migration Ministry will be halting refugee transfers to Greece’s mainland due to the rapidly increasing coronavirus cases within the refugee camps, Katherimini sources claim.

A major testing and contact-tracing operation at Greece’s largest migrant camp on the eastern island of Lesvos has so far detected 35 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among the overcrowded facility’s 12,500 residents, authorities said Tuesday.

The ministry said health teams from the National Organisation of Public Health (EODY) conducted a total of 2,000 tests, of which 100 were done on employees and 1,900 on residents.

According to the Katherimini sources, authorities are halting transfers from refugee camps to the Greek mainland, aiming to curb the movement of recognised refugees and limit the possibility of further infections.

This, in turn, may help decongest Athens’ central Victoria Square, where many evicted refugees have set up camp.

READ MORE: Moria migrants transferred to Athens construct ‘makeshift camp’ in Victoria Square

Migrants turned Victoria Square into a temporary makeshift camp in June after a government announcement saw hundreds of migrants be transferred to Athens.

The problem was broached during an Athens City council meeting with officials underlining the need for authorities to offer food and shelter to the refugees. Nasos Iliopoulos, a leftist SYRIZA official and head of the Anoixti Poli (Open City) movement, on Monday visited the square.

“Local residents and businesses can see that the situation taking shape is reprehensible both for the homeless refugees as it is for the quality of life in their neighbourhood, which is only just starting to recover after a series of crises,” Anoixti Poli said.