Moria camp arson seen as emblematic of EU impotence
September 12th, 2020As over 12 thousand asylum seekers sleep rough on Lesbos island after their camp burnt down on Wednesday, a pro-government commentator blames Europe’s half-hearted attitude toward mass immigration.
Magyar Nemzet’ Levente Sitkei describes the situation on the Greek island of Lesbos as a trap both for the asylum-seekers and the local population. The Moria camp was originally meant to host 3 thousand people but became home to more than 12 thousand over the years. They firmly believed that moving to Europe was a sacred right for anyone, he writes, yet Europe has neither been able to accommodate them nor let them know that such a right does not exist. Now there is no solution in sight, Sitkei writes, as the local residents vehemently oppose the idea of rebuilding the camp, while the government refuses to move the migrants to the mainland because it doesn’t intend to give in to the arsonists who wanted to achieve just that. Sitkei interprets that stalemate as symptomatic of Europe’s virtual paralysis during the past five years of the migration crisis.