Thousands of homeless Lesbos migrants to move to new tent city ‘in coming days’

Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said an estimated 1,000 foreign residents of the Moria camp were expected to relocate to the tent city by late Sunday and that getting everyone housed at the new site would take several days.

“At the moment, it’s happening on a voluntary basis in the initial stage,” Mitarakis told Greek television station Open TV.

Fires on Tuesday and Wednesday nights decimated Moria, Greece’s largest refugee camp. Authorities have said residents protesting a lockdown imposed after a coronavirus outbreak deliberately set the blazes.

Thousands of people have since camped out on a stretch of highway near Moria under police guard following more protests against the Greek government refusing to allow the homeless migrants to leave Lesbos for the Greek mainland.

Mitarakis said that those entering the new camp would undergo rapid testing for the coronavirus and that five cases so far have been identified.

(AP)