The Kara Tepe 1 refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, often described as functioning well, is being closed.
Next week, the residents of the camp, which is under local administration, are to be relocated, according to information from aid organizations and local media – mostly to the much-criticized and already overcrowded improvised refugee camp Kara Tepe 2.
The Ministry of Migration in Athens confirmed the closure of Kara Tepe 1 without giving any reasons for the closure. In Plati, near the island’s capital, Mytilene, a new structure is to be built, but the EU Commission is still waiting for a specific funding commitment, it said.
Criticism from aid organizations
The fact that the residents of the actually well-functioning camp Kara Tepe 1 should now come to Kara Tepe 2, in which, according to observers, “inhumane” conditions prevail, was described by Greek aid organizations, solidarity movements and other volunteers as “unacceptable”.
Kara Tepe 2 (also known as Camp Mavrovouni) was set up as an alternative camp after the devastating fire in Moria in September of the previous year. According to NGOs, the conditions there are even more precarious than in the Moria slum camp. In view of the situation, the Austrian Red Cross (WCC) again called for the people of Lesbos to be brought either to mainland Greece or to other European countries.
