Migrants On Lesbos Face Desperate Plight

The coronavirus pandemic is far from the minds of homeless migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos who are facing extreme hunger, dehydration, exhaustion and myriad illnesses, an aid worker has warned

Ile de Lesbos, Grece, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2020 ) :The coronavirus pandemic is far from the minds of homeless migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos who are facing extreme hunger, dehydration, exhaustion and myriad illnesses, an aid worker has warned.

Nearly 13,000 people, including thousands of children, were left homeless after Europe's largest camp for asylum-seekers was destroyed by fire this month.

Those living in the notoriously overcrowded and unsanitary Moria camp were already facing violence, theft and difficult living conditions during their time there, said Francisca Bohle-Carbonell, in charge of medical activities for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Lesbos.

Since the fires on the night of September 8, "the needs are the same as before: people are suffering, they don't have enough food, there is not enough water, they sleep outside", she told AFP.

While more than half of the migrants have been moved since Thursday to a temporary new camp hastily built on the island, thousands continue to sleep by roads, in car parks and even inside a local cemetery.

That makes them even more vulnerable as they are far from the radar of NGOs that were equipped to care for the sickest, Bohle-Carbonell said.

"Many people have lost their medication, so there is no way at all to stabilise conditions that were already serious before. Now it's even worse because you can't even follow up," she said.