EU called to use cruise ships to move migrants from Greece to Germany
The Greek islands in the Aegean are currently holding tens of thousands of migrants in camps. Sea Watch is concerned that with the outbreak of the coronavirus, the migrants are at risk of mass infection due to the poor sanitary conditions in the camps.
But the pandemic offers another opportunity which Sea Watch thinks could be a solution to the problem. All cruise ships have been temporarily decommissioned due to the outbreak. These vessels can carry thousands and are equipped with advanced medical facilities. Thus, Sea Watch has recommended to the EU that the ships be used to transfer migrants from the Greek islands to Germany, according to a report at the socialist news site Morning Star.
Sea Watch said that they would assist the effort with logistical and medical support.
In its proposal, Sea Watch noted that over 140 German cities and municipalities have declared their willingness to accept migrants and that Germany alone could accommodate up to 40,000. They also pointed out that the German government is one of the leading financiers of cruise lines.
“Anyone who fails to ensure that people are evacuated now will be complicit in the possible death of hundreds,” Sea Watch’s Chairman, Johannes Bayer, said.
Another German charity, Mission Lifeline, is planning to move migrant children from the Greek camps to Berlin on charter flights, something it has done before. The charity was easily able to raise the funds for the effort and is now only waiting on permits from the German government to proceed.
Countries which refuse to take in more migrants because of the coronavirus pandemic are violating international human rights conventions, Mission Lifeline told the Morning Star.
Other European countries, however, are already strained to the limit due to the outbreaks, and are being forced to release migrants back into the general population due to a lack of resources, as previously reported by Voice of Europe.
*--Belgium: Illegal migrants released from detention facilities due to coronavirus problems--*https://t.co/GJcGEMJMlf— Voice of Europe 🌍 (@V_of_Europe) March 24, 2020
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