The unbearable situation in the refugee camp on the Greek island Lesbos completely escalated last night. In protest against the continuing poor care, the danger of Covid 19 and the prospect of Moria being turned into a closed camp by the erection of a fence, some camp residents decided to burn down large parts of the camp.

Facilities of NGOs like Movement on the ground, Team Humanity and Medicin Sans Frontiers were looted and set on fire.

The entire infrastructure of the camp was destroyed and only parts of the jungle were left.

The police used batons and tear gas against the refugees, but could not control the situation. The fire department was attacked with stones to hinder their work.

Many of the camp inhabitants fled to the surrounding area or to the city of Mytilini. It is not clear how many people were injured and whether people fell victim to the flames. The further provisioning situation is not yet clear.

Last night’s action shows the sheer desperation of the almost 13,000 people still living in this camp and that with a continuous lockdown, without any chance of protection from the pandemic, while in the rest of the island, normality had almost returned. But above all it is the sad highlight of the failure of European migration policy, led by Germany.

This escalation could have been prevented, not by more police, but by helping people in their situation and not stuffing them for years into an overcrowded camp.

For years, and especially since the threat of Covid 19, political groups and NGOs have been pointing out the catastrophic situation in the camp. In Germany there is a big movement by several cities and states to welcome refugees that is only blocked by the German government.

The fire that destroyed Moria yesterday, was set years ago in the government chairs of the EU and Turkey.

Our response must be solidarity with the desperate and forgotten at the external borders of the EU. The inhuman border regime, which murders, lets masses of people drown and produces enormous misery, belongs on the garbage dump of history! Get active! Every1 to the streets!