Germany: diocese of Munich-Freising, 100 thousand euros for refugees in Lesbos island

The archdiocese of Munich-Freising donated 100 thousand euros to support the 15 thousand refugees in Lesbos island, Greece. Caritas Germany, with local volunteers, will be in charge of coordinating the aids directly with Caritas Greece and with the other humanitarian agencies working on the island. The archdiocese took the sum from its own fund for catastrophes and humanitarian aid. Such funds will be spent to provide emergency medical and psychological support. According to the sources, 15 thousand refugees, one third of them children, are currently living in the Moria camp on Lesbos island. Such camp had in fact been designed for just 2,500 people. According to Caritas Internationalis, for months the refugees have been given no social security number, so they had little or no access to regular medical care. In addition, the camp has been closed down. NGOs are not allowed into it either. In the light of the increasingly dramatic situation and the huge need, Caritas Germany decided to increase the local aids. Its Greek counterpart, Caritas Hellas, set up its own refugee camp, Kara Tepe, with other humanitarian organisations. It accommodates 1,300 particularly vulnerable people, such as victims of torture, sick and disabled people and pregnant women. According to Caritas Hellas, about 80 thousand refugees are currently living in continental Greece and on the islands. Since the closing of the Balkan route, the further westward pass has been stopped, and the refugees have been held up in Greece for many months, someone even for over a year.
Marco Calvarese