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Greece: Transfer Refugees and Asylum Seekers to Safety on Mainland

Respect for Human Rights Should Prevail Over Use of Force

Moria camp on Lesbos island following a fire that started on the evening of September 8, 2020, destroying most of the camp and leaving 12,000 asylum seekers and refugees without shelter. © 2020 Private

Following the fire in Moria on Tuesday September 8, on Lesbos, which destroyed the Reception and Identification Centre, 31 civil society organizations call on the Greek government to immediately provide assistance to people who lost their shelter. Those affected, among them many children and at-risk groups, should be carefully transferred to safety on the mainland. 

The transfer of at-risk groups, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, people with medical and mental health conditions, and older people, should be prioritized. People who tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19 should be given safe housing for the quarantine period, health care, and hospitalization if necessary.

Moving people from Lesbos to mainland Greece requires finding urgent solutions to address the fact that many current housing facilities for refugees and asylum seekers are at full capacity. We urge the Greek authorities to work on a coherent plan that maximizes all available resources, including those from the European Union, and we renew our call to European leaders to share the responsibility for the reception and support of asylum seekers now more than ever.

In these difficult times, it is of utmost importance that respect for human rights is at the center of the response to the fire at Moria, and that authorities do not resort to use of force or inflammatory language, but take appropriate steps to de-escalate any risk of violence.

List of signatories:
ActionAid Hellas
Amnesty International
Boat Refugee Foundation
CRWI Diotima
ECHO100PLUS
ELIX
Equal Rights Beyond Borders
Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid
Greek Council for Refugees (GCR)
Hellenic League for Human Rights
Hellenic Platform for Development (Ελληνική Πλατφόρμα για την Ανάπτυξη)
Help Refugees
Hias Greece
HumanRights360
Humanitarian Legal Aid
Human Rights Watch
International Rescue Committee (IRC)
INTERSOS Hellas
Legal Centre Lesvos
Médecins Sans Frontières
Melissa
Network for Children’s Rights
Omnes
Refugee Legal Support (RLS)
Refugee Rights Europe (RRE)
Refugee Support Aegean (RSA)
Refugee Trauma Initiative
Solidarity Now
Symbiosis-School of Political Studies in Greece
Terre des hommes Hellas
The HOME Project

Update (September 8, 2020)

The following 17 organizations have also endorsed the statement after its publication, increasing the number of signatories from 31 to 48:

ANTIGONE - Information and Documentation Centre on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non Violence 

Are You Syrious?

ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth

CEAR (Spanish Commission for Refugees)

Ecological Movement of Thessaloniki

Generation 2.0 RED

Greek Housing Network

InterVolve - Irida Center

Lesvos Solidarity

Medecins du Monde – Greece

Mobile Info Team

Odyssea

Safe Passage International

Solomon

Wave – Thessaloniki

World Refugee and Migration Council

ZEUXIS

Correction

Update (September 16, 2020): The quote from Syed Suhail Bin Syed Zin was added to this article after its initial publication.

Update (September 8, 2020): The following 17 organizations have also endorsed the statement after its publication, increasing the number of signatories from 31 to 48:

ANTIGONE - Information and Documentation Centre on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non Violence 

Are You Syrious?

ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth

CEAR (Spanish Commission for Refugees)

Ecological Movement of Thessaloniki

Generation 2.0 RED

Greek Housing Network

InterVolve - Irida Center

Lesvos Solidarity

Medecins du Monde – Greece

Mobile Info Team

Odyssea

Safe Passage International

Solomon

Wave – Thessaloniki

World Refugee and Migration Council

ZEUXIS

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