Debate: The need for an immediate and humanitarian EU response to the current situation in the refugee camp in Moria
Date: THURSDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2020
Speaker: Ylva Johansson
Language: EN

We should not accept people living under these conditions. I have said many times here in Parliament that the conditions in Moria are unacceptable and now it has just got worse. The pictures and reports remind us that the people in Moria are just like us – fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, people, men, women, old people, and all too many children who already had little and now have nothing. People running away from the fire, families torn apart, people sleeping on the burnt ground under the sky. What we know: on Tuesday at midnight fires started in several parts of Moria reception centre. A large part of the population ran into the surrounding areas and hills, others fled into the city of Mytilene and the vicinity of the Kara Tepe centre. On Wednesday two fires burnt down another part of the Moria centre. In practice, the Moria centre no longer exists. How these fires started is not yet clear, and I will not speculate. No one died or needed to go to hospital and that’s of course very good, luckily that’s the outcome. But 2 362 people are now in need of shelter, acute need. Our first priority must be the children. All remaining 406 unaccompanied minors in Moria have been transferred to the Greek mainland with the Commission’s help and financial support, and we did that the first day. I can today announce that the unaccompanied minors on the other islands will be moved to safety as well, and we have already started, as you know, the relocation of unaccompanied minors to other Member States and now we will step up on this and continue this coordination and relocation of unaccompanied minors. But I’m also worried about other vulnerable people – families with small children, the elderly and pregnant women. I have recently written a letter together with the Presidency and German Minister Horst Seehofer to all Member States arguing that we asked them to step in to do more voluntary relocation and more of this voluntary solidarity that is necessary now. Our immediate focus right now is to provide food and shelter and to prevent suffering, and to support the Greek authorities to this end. Last week Vice- President Schinas travelled to Greece to assess the situation. The Commission has been in constant contact with the Greek authorities and the German Presidency. On 12 September, Greece asked for assistance under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. Now we have 12 Member States that have already offered support – shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene products and medical assistance. Already more than 100 000 items have been included in this so far. Our Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) is coordinating this effort, facilitating delivery and co-financing transport. Other Member States are providing medical teams and shelter on a bilateral basis. Reportedly, the support of food and water has been secured. Seven hundred tents and seven Rubb halls have now been installed to provide shelter which could house an estimated 5 000 people today. Vulnerable people and women with children are receiving priority. At the beginning of this week, 800 people were living in these tents. Progress is slow in part perhaps because all these people are being tested for COVID-19 and those that are found positive are being kept in isolation, but also because people are afraid to enter the new tent centre. We have to remember that these people are in a very, very difficult situation. Our agencies EASO and Frontex are on the ground offering support. For example, the offices of the Greek asylum service in Moria have been completely destroyed, but asylum interviews will resume in Lesbos in the coming days. These emergency measures build on our efforts over the last six months. You have heard me before saying in the beginning of my mandate that the conditions in these overcrowded reception centres on the Greek islands has been unacceptable. When we started, when I started and took office, there was more than 50 000 people living in the centres on the islands, and now there are half as many. In Moria in six months we have gone from 25 000 people to 12 000 people. It’s still too many, it’s still unacceptable, but I’ve pushed for change and numbers are going down thanks to the efforts of the Greek authorities and thanks to the efforts of the Commission. We have put in place a programme as you know to give unaccompanied minors a new chance and a new life in Europe, and one Member State also decided to welcome sick children with their families. So we are now on track to relocate 2 000 unaccompanied teenagers and children together with their families, and now we could top up that with the new pledges from Member States. Every week a plane is leaving to a welcoming Member State with these unaccompanied minors. In Moria, we went from 1 200 unaccompanied minors to 400, and these 400 have now also been moved to safety as I just said. In the last six months, we have also made efforts to build more and better reception facilities. You know, Moria has been destroyed and right now the acute task is to give shelter, food and medicine. A new permanent and proper centre is the priority, but there can be no more Morias. We need a fresh start on migration and this is the right moment, as President von der Leyen said yesterday in the State of the European Union. In her inspiring speech, she said: ‘Migration has always been a fact for Europe, and will always be. Throughout the centuries, it has defined our societies, enriched our cultures and shaped many of our lives, and this will always be the case.’ I could not agree more. That’s what I have always said: Moria is not normal but migration is normal. It’s something that we can manage. Moria is a leftover of the 2015 migration crisis, but times have changed. In 2015, almost two million people fled to Europe and crossed our borders irregularly. Now it’s 140 000 people irregularly arriving. In 2015, most refugees were from Syria and 90% received refugee status. Now the majority of irregular rivals – two thirds – are not entitled to international protection. The situation has changed, but the need for a common European policy and common European legislation to manage migration and asylum is still there. As President von der Leyen said yesterday, we want a constructive approach towards migration because it will always be with us. We need a humane and human approach. That means saving lives at sea is not optional. A closer link between asylum and returns, fighting smugglers, working with external parties and creating legal pathways to Europe. Welcoming people who have the right to stay, and helping them to integrate and be a part of our society. Solidarity with those countries who fulfil their legal and moral duties or are most under pressure. And with all Member States taking their share of the responsibility.