Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss send more supplies to fire-hit Moria camp

burnt out refugee camp
Moria, after the fire last week. Keystone / Dimitris Tosidis

Switzerland is to send further assistance to the Greek island of Lesbos, following a fire which all but destroyed the refugee camp of Moria last week.

Four water treatment systems to prepare and distribute drinking water, five tents and several generators will be sent to the island, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Four humanitarian specialists will also travel to the Moria camp, where over 12,000 people – mostly refugees from Afghanistan, Africa, and Syria – were left without shelter, proper sanitation, or access to food and water after the huge blaze on Wednesday.

On Friday the foreign ministry said it was sending almost a tonne of aid materials. It has also budgeted up to CHF1 million ($1.1 million) to meet urgent needs on the site.

Greek police detained five migrants on Tuesday and are searching for one more suspect. They believe the fire was set deliberately by occupants after quarantine measures were imposed following the discovery of Covid-19 cases on the site.

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR