The new provisional camp on the Greek island of Lesbos now has 9,000 asylum seekers out of the 12,700 left homeless by the fire that destroyed the Moria camp ten days ago, according to the Migration Minister.

This camp, with a capacity of 8,000 to 10,000 people according to the authorities, was hastily installed in a former shooting range three kilometers from the port of Mytilene, the island's capital.

A "temporary solution", wants to believe the UNHCR

After having camped by the road between Moria and Mytilene, on the asphalt, in abandoned buildings or in fields, the asylum seekers driven out of Moria began to join the new camp in recent days after a police operation on Thursday aimed at clearing the roads.

But many of them are afraid of finding themselves stranded again in difficult conditions like those in Moria, where they have been waiting for months, some years, for their transfer to mainland Greece.

>> To read on InfoMigrants: "'Rather die here than go to a new camp': in Lesbos, migrants do not want another Moria"

The police operation and threats of non-processing of the asylum requests of the recalcitrant pushed several thousand refugees to enter the new camp.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it supported the new camp "as a temporary solution", but warned against any perpetuation of an emergency installation.

"The Greek authorities must clarify" the future of this site, writes the UN agency.

"In the ashes of #Moria, the issue is not only to guarantee urgent and essential aid to those affected," writes the UNHCR representative in 🇬🇷.

"Solutions require taking responsibility ... for this to end." Https://t.co/aSaqiCrg1k

- UNHCR France (@UNHCRfrance) September 16, 2020

Any asylum seeker is tested for Covid-19 at the entrance to the camp.

So far, 214 cases of the new coronavirus have been detected, according to the Ministry of Migration.

Migrant camps across the country have been confined since mid-March due to the pandemic.

The UNHCR and NGOs continue to protest against this measure as deconfinement in the rest of the country began in early May.

The first major fire in Moria, the night of September 8 to 9, took place the day after the identification of a group of 35 people positive for Covid-19.

Six young Afghan asylum seekers are accused of setting fire, four of whom are due to testify on Saturday before the investigating judge.

With AFP

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