No Border Kitchen Lesvos
A rough night: Protests for freedom, Moria on fire and fascist attacks
The night from Monday to Tuesday was very rough for all of us. Monday
started with a very big and powerful protest for freedom and against the
unbearable living conditions in Moria from the people in the camp. In
the evening the situation in the camp escalated and Moria camp took
fire. At nightfall the fire was extinguished but most of the tents and
the family compounds were already burnt down. Thus thousands of people
including many families were left in the dark without a sleeping place,
water, food or blankets. Meanwhile the police blocked the road to Moria
camp forcing people fleeing the burnt down camp back. To Moria the only
other road from the camp to Mytilini through Moria village was blocked
by a racist mob and several people were attacked. In this night we and
friends were supporting people with our solidarity and necessities like
water and blankets.
With double the refugees living in Moria than it was initially built
for, Moria camp is completely overcrowded. The people are forced to stay
in overcrowded tents or outside, there is not enough food or water and
very bad hygienic conditions.
On the day the fire broke out, September 19th, there had been no lunch
and the water had as usually been cut for hours. Some refugees started
protesting and some managed to set their imprisoned friends free. They
protested in front of the EASO offices to ask for their asylum requests
to be processed and to demand answers about the reasons for their
deportation. The EASO staff left the camp from a back door without
responding. At that point the peoples anger grew, they gathered in front
of the camp in protest and in the spirit of the recent demonstrations,
started marching towards Mytilini town.
There are a lot of stories of what actually happened on Monday. Some say
the people wanted to march to Mytilini town to protest against the
border and Moria camp, others said that they heard about the fascist
gathering in Moria village and wanted to make a counter demonstration.
No matter what is true, it was a common protest of people from different
origins and language groups together against the borders, the bad
conditions in Moria camp and fascism and racism in Lesvos. It is unclear
whether they were stopped by the police or if or they returned
voluntarily, but the people turned around and went again to Moria camp.
In any case anger grew even more and soon people started clashing with
the police.
During the fighting a fire started spreading through the camp. It is
unclear who set the fire, but as far as we know the flames started in
the dry fields outside Moria camp close to one of the unofficial entries
to the camp and because of the strong wind quickly expanded inside the
camp. In Moria camp all constructions and the tents are made of easily
inflammable material so together with the piles of trash lying around in
the camp everything took fire. Fortunately no person got seriously
injured in the flames but the firefighters didn't reach the camp in time
to save the belongings of the people. Hundreds of people lost all they
had but what they were wearing at the time of the fire: passports,
documents they need for their asylum process, diplomas, money, clothes,
tents, sleeping bags – all gone.
Instead of getting shelter and new blankets the people were confronted
with the police and the locals blocking their way out.
The main road was closed by police buses not letting any refugees out or
any other people in.
Meanwhile a big group of racists reached Moria village. Previously they
had marched in Mytilini town for a nationalistic demonstration against
Moria camp and refugees on Lesvos. They also already attacked and beaten
two girls on the same day, from who one was hospitalized. The mob in
Moria village consisted of at least 100-200 people armed with sticks and
knifes. At this point we don't know if it was mainly locals or also
organized fascists from other cities. We were told of refugees defending
themselves with stones against the fascists. Only a handful of police
men held the locals back from beating up the refugees trying to get
through to Mytilini. Some of us from No Border Kitchen tried to get
friends and families out of Moria camp to a safe place. On our way by
foot through Moria village we also were attacked and threatened with a
knife. Also one of our cars got broken with an ax while the person
inside was insulted and threatened to be beaten up. Luckily we run
respectively drove away fast enough not to get physically injured.
Now the future is unclear. While there is still a need for emergency
help, for the rebuilding of shelters and distributions of clothes, water
and food, the actual problems didn't change. Moria is not a refuge and
forcing people to claim asylum in Lesvos not a solution. Even if Moria
is in the process of being rebuild, it will just become again the
unlivable place it was before the fire. Also still people are arriving
and the situation in Moria will continue to get worse. But even building
a second camp like Moria as planned by the government is not a solution.
We from No Border Kitchen are working hard at the moment to support the
people from Moria. But we don't only distribute blankets. We will also
go on to show our solidarity and our protest on the street. We stand
with all the people that were fighting the inhuman conditions in Moria
on Monday and everybody that suffered under the fire on Monday.
We want to be known that the fire in Moria was not just an accident. And
the fight was not just a food fight. People were fighting for their
rights to be treated like the human beings they are. Furthermore it is
out of question who has to take the responsibility for the fire in
Moria. Its the people that close the border, the people that force
people into overcrowded camps build from plastic and lacking even water
or food. Camps that lack conditions suitable for human beings will
always be a source of fire.
Home »
» Lesvos -noborder kitchen report 21.9.