On the Greek island of Lesbos, around 80 of the 1,100 tents in a makeshift refugee camp were flooded with mud and water during heavy rain. The water is in parts of the Kara Tepe camp, the Greek media reported today.
Helpers are on duty to repair the damage. The tent residents would be housed in buildings belonging to the community. The camp was established after the original Moria camp was almost completely destroyed in a major fire a month ago.
A spokesman for the EU Commission reminded that Kara Tepe was a temporary establishment and the conditions could not be anywhere near perfect. A working group from the EU Commission and Greek authorities are working on better accommodation. Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis agree that more urgently needs to be done.
The UN refugee agency warned that the conditions would get worse in winter. There are still significant shortcomings in many areas. Helpers distributed additional tarpaulins for the affected tents and poured gravel. According to UN data, around 7,800 people live in Kara Tepe.
