Moria Migrants: Dutch activists working to relocate 200 Greek camp migrants to Netherlands
A group of Dutch activists has raised enough money to send a passenger aircraft to the Greek island of Lebos to rescue 200 migrants from the Moria migrant camp.
With a crowdfunding initiative, a group of Dutch activists has raised enough money to send a passenger aircraft to the Greek island of Lebos to rescue 200 migrants from the Moria migrant camp. The move comes as a devastating fire at Greece's largest migrant camp last month left its occupants scrambling for shelter. The success of the initiative is dependent on the Dutch authorities giving them permission to land a plane full of migrants in the Netherlands.
'Let’s Bring Them Here'
As per reports, Let’s Bring Them Here group member Rikko Voorberg said, “We are trying to increase the pressure while realising that it would be a bizarre miracle if it happens”. While speaking to the AP on Thursday, October 1, Rikko added that it was unlikely that the Dutch authorities would allow them to bring migrants to the Netherlands.
According to reports, the group's crowdfunding campaign was quickly able to raise enough funds to hire a plane with 200 seats. The plane is due to take off for Lebos on Monday, September 5. As per the organisers, the initiative itself does not have a lot of hope of succeeding, the idea was to raise awareness about the migrants that are stuck in Lebos and other migrant camps across Europe with limited prospects for relocation.
The group on their official website published an open letter stating that the success of their initiative depended on gaining official permission to airlift migrants off the island. The letter also stated, “We have to try, even if it fails”. As per reports, 139 asylum-seekers were taken off the Greek island on Wednesday, September 30 on an officially sanctioned flight to Germany. The flight was part of a larger effort to move the Moria migrants from the overcrowded island to other European countries.
On September 13, thousands of asylum seekers at Lebos island were left without shelter after a devastating fire ravaged the Moria camp. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis raised suspicion that some of the camp residents could responsible for setting the fire in an effort to blackmail the Greek government into moving them out of the island. However, after facing severe criticism, authorities moved to action to provide temporary shelters for the thousands of migrants.
(With AP inputs, Image Credit: AP)
Published By : Shubham Bose
Published On: 2 October 2020 at 02:37 IST