Thousands Flee Blaze at Greek Refugee Camp

Thousands of migrants fled one of Greece’s biggest refugee camps last night after a fire burnt most of the compound to the ground.

Tensions have boiled over at overcrowded camps on Greece’s islands as the slow processing of asylum requests adds to frustration over hard living conditions there.

Thousands of migrants and refugees flee a camp on the Greek island of Lesbos after fire rips through tents during violence among residents.

Greek police say a large fire has swept through a big camp for refugees and other.

There are reports that some people had lit fires to keep warm as the temperature drops and winter sets in.

More than 13,500 migrants and refugees are now living on five Greek islands close to Turkey, with capacity for 7450, according to government data.

The officials also discussed the possibility of temporarily housing hundreds of migrants whose shelters at the Moria camp were destroyed on a ferryboat in the island’s port until the damage at the facility is repaired.

Tensions have boiled over at overcrowded camps on Greece’s islands as the slow processing of asylum requests adds to frustration over hard living conditions there.

The situation is particularly acute on Lesbos and other eastern Aegean islands facing Turkey, where most of the refugees and migrants land and are held for registration.

At least nine people were arrested on accusations of damaging property and causing unrest and were expected to appear before a prosecutor, a police official in Athens said.

There are now more than 60,000 refugees and migrants in Greece, majority seeking to travel to Germany and other affluent European Union countries. Transfers to the mainland, she said, would remain limited. Minister Thodoris Dritsas said families would be granted priority on the vessel, while different ethnic groups would be kept apart.

“The EU and Greece can not carry on stockpiling refugees indefinitely on the Greek islands”, Amnesty International’s Giorgos Kosmopoulos said.

The system is part of an EU-Turkey deal aimed at limiting the flow of refugees and migrants to Greece.