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In Greece, two weeks after the fire in Moria camp in Lesbos, this time the Vathy refugee camp on the island of Samos was hit by flames last night, soon after clashes erupted between migrants. Three migrants were injured report the news agencies.
From our correspondent in Athens , Joël Bronner
Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos: each of these five Greek islands close to Turkey is officially home to a refugee camp, a "hotspot" as the administration calls them. Centers that register migrants on their arrival on European soil and where they usually start an asylum procedure .
As in Lesbos, the Samos camp is also overpopulated. Nearly 6,000 people are currently registered for just over 600 places, or nearly 10 times its capacity. A situation that places the different Greek refugee camps on the brink of implosion.
These camps were gradually set up after the 2015 migratory wave , when nearly one million refugees arrived in Europe. In March 2016, an agreement between the European Union and Ankara - which notably provides for the reinforcement of Turkish border control - has considerably reduced the number of arrivals in Greece.
However, since this summer, the authorities have seen a resurgence in the number of boats landing on its shores. Nearly 40,000 asylum seekers, including Afghans and Syrians, have been identified on the Greek islands this year.
The recent conflict initiated by Ankara in Syria raises fears that this number of refugees will continue to increase. A risk for these largely saturated Greek camps where tensions are already real, as recalled by the fire which has just hit the camp of Samos.
Half of the 6,000 people who are stuck in #Vathy camp on #Samos are women and children. This nightmare must end! Children and other vulnerable people must be evacuated from the Greek islands to safe accommodation. pic.twitter.com/uxlL6Fm5As
MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) October 14, 2019