Urgent Call from Moria Camp for Help in Corona Times

Stand By Me Lesvos

This is the call from our partners in Moria, MCAT and White Helmets, in English:

Yesterday we, Moria Corona Awareness Team and Moria White Helmets wrote an appeal to the European Union, Governments in Europe and for the European public too:

– We are hostages of circumstances, we are not responsible for. At first the general living conditions in the Moria camp, which are really horrible and which are degrading us day by day. But now we face the problem of the pandemic danger, which we cannot stand alone. We began to organize our life in misery, we try to protect our dignity, but we cannot fight against a virus without minimal hygienic standards and possibilities to protect us.

– Any advise how to avoid the spread of Corona even sound illusionary to us: How should we keep distance, if thousand have to wait for food every day, how to wash our hands, if no water is available? How can sick persons isolate if there is no place for that?

The steps to address these issues are:
• water (sewage/toilets, showers, and taps)
• trash
• isolation
• food supply/food line
• hygiene/disinfection
• fire protection
• security
• awareness/education

– This can and should be done with support of the European Union and EU governments, with the understanding that this is not a long-term solution. These camps violate the laws of international human rights and refugee rights. There should be a consensus among the European governments that these camps need to be dissolved as soon as possible, which realistically means after this Coronavirus pandemic

– In the beginning of the crisis, we felt left abandoned and were totally unprepared. We took some measures to self-organize with the support from some, mainly local Greek NGOs to raise awareness and prepare for the worse. During the last weeks, we managed a lot of small steps, cleaned the camp, set up some hand washing stations, printed posters and leaflets and did other activities. While Corona spread in Greece and here in Lesvos, we expected the worst, because this virus in the camp would be like a death sentence for old, sick and other vulnerable individuals.

– We need help to help ourselves. We are willing to do whatever we can do to protect all of us from the ongoing danger of the Coronavirus. We are in Europe and we need Europe to survive!

Help us help ourselves!

In addition:
This appeal was published by the German Newspaper Der Tagesspiegel today, and it has already gained political attention in Germany:

“The cry for help from the refugees in Moria must not go unheeded,” said Left Party leader Katja Kipping in Berlin. “Every wait is a game of the lives of thousands of people,” she warned.

“Government spokesman Steffen Seibert declined to comment on the appeal from Moria at first. A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior said at noon on Friday that he was not yet aware of the text. But he pointed to “comprehensive” support from the german government “to improve conditions in the Greek camps.”

See the document:

Call to Europe from MoriaDownload