Greek ferries to house Lesbos fire refugees

The Greek government on Tuesday said it would send up to three passenger ferries to provide temporary accommodation to refugees on the island of Lesbos who were displaced by a devastating blaze.

Greece's merchant marine ministry launched a call for bids for a ship that could house at least 1,000 people and reach the island by Wednesday.

Families will be granted priority on the vessel, while ethnic groups will remain separated, said Thodoris Dritsas, minister of shipping and island policy. He added that those who do not receive accommodation on the vessels will be housed in new tents on the island.

More than 4,000 people have been displaced on the Greek island after a fire engulfed the Moria refugee camp. Nearly 60 percent of the camp was destroyed, including tents and metal-roofed cabins, according to police.

At least nine people were arrested for allegedly damaging property and causing unrest. A police official in Athens said the suspects believed to be involved in the refugee camp fire are expected to appear before a prosecutor soon.

Local media reported that the fire started due to clashes between different ethnic groups after rumors that hundreds of migrants at the camp would be deported from Greece.

Mainland off-limits

Meanwhile, European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud in Brussels said transfers from Lesbos to mainland Greece would remain limited.

An EU-Turkey deal requires migrants to stay on five islands before their asylum requests are processed. Under the deal, migrants who have their asylum requests denied are deported to Turkey.

"To avoid secondary movement to the rest of Europe, that means keeping asylum seekers on the islands for the most part," said Bertaud.

More than one million migrants crossed into the 28-nation bloc in 2015, many of them fleeing war and extreme poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The influx prompted a political crisis across the continent, with several eastern European countries rejecting a plan to settle asylum seekers within their borders under a Brussels-backed plan.

ls/kl (Reuters, AP)