There are many Morias worldwide
People have been dying for years in Moria & other camps, the fire was just the tip of the iceberg.
The headlines the past week and days have been: “state of emergency declared in Lesvos”. But truth be told, the island Lesvos, as well as the other Aegean islands, have been in a state of emergency since 2015. However, in the news we only read about Moria, how the camp is overcrowded, no basic necessities covered, where there is literally no air to breathe. Nevertheless, Moria is not a unique situation. Many asylum seekers, seasonal workers and migrants live in inhumane camps, e.g. in Turkey, Pakistan, Spain (Lepe), France (Calais), Bangladesh, Colombia, Kenya. But it would be too much to showcase all of these barbaric camps that our governments help fund so we are fed with just Moria. We better keep it simple.
Moria is the blot of the European Union, a big disgrace, a place where solidarity and equality are written off and we ask ourselves how it is even possible that a camp like Moria existed in Europe in the first place.
Europe, a place where dreams come true — the European Dream.
Refugees have been entering Europe for decades and more frequently since 2015 (surprise: that’s what happens when you bomb another country). Nevertheless, Europe has no effective and/or dignified system to receive these human beings in Europe.
We read that it was a one-time disaster and that luckily nobody was killed. I ask myself, is that really true? Hasn’t Moria been a place where many have been killed? I can’t count the amount of times I heard people committing suicide, people dying because they had insufficient access to medical care, not enough food, dehydration during the summer and hypothermia during the winter time. Maybe it was a disaster but it for sure was a predictable disaster.
The Greek Government and the other European governments funded Moria and many other similar prisons. This system they created has been killing people for years now. Our governments are murderers.
So yes, luckily nobody got killed during the wildfire but they were dying before anyways.
The headline “refugees are now homeless on the streets and Europe is watching” is a big joke and disrespectful to everyone who lived in any camp: People have been homeless for weeks, months, years. This camp and all the others were never a “home” to begin with. They were just sold to us as homes because it’s better than nothing at all and they fled war:
“They should be happy with so little. After all, these refugees come from poor countries, they know how to be resilient and happy with barely nothing”.
Oh yes, the white savior gaze. Omnipresent.
Moria will be forgotten in a couple of days, the way we forgot the horrendous images of people on small rubber boats arriving at the European shore, trying not to drown. The same way we forgot images of refugees being evicted from their homes leaving them homeless. I wonder do you even recall who Alan Kurdi was, without googling? Everything will be forgotten, a new Moria prison is in the making and the nightmare shall begin all over again.
And while we are discussing how harrowing this fire was and that it was a disaster I can only think of the real disaster: That Moria was built and has prevailed for 5 years now.
Europe is debating the future of these people. If all 27 countries took in at least 1000 people then there would be no need for a “new Moria”. Yet, European politicians (e.g. Seehofer — German Minister of Interior) would rather wait for a joint European solution instead of taking action now and taking several hundred people in need of protection out of the camps. They are buying time while others are losing it. Nothing more, nothing less.
The only measure that has been taken is to rebuild the jail Moria and again people will have to wait weeks and months for their “trial”. The new Kara Tepe camp, near the island’s main town Mytilene — close to camp Moria — it is expected to hold all of the 12,000+ refugees. However, the same issues as in Moria remain: the tents are very hot as they are not protected from the sun and Winter is coming so they have no protection from the cold either. The tents are built with very little space in between, hence there’s no privacy and fights are bound to break out. For now, they have no access to clean running water, drainage etc. although NGOs/UNHCR and the Greek Government say they are in the process but we all know the end of that story.
They will be trapped in a new prison called Kara Tepe and I wonder how soon Moria will be forgotten.
Moria & Co. are a shithole? Trust me, European asylum policy too.
