Refugee camp evacuated after major wildfire on Greek island of Chios ...Middle East

A refugee camp on the Greek island of Chios has been evacuated with hundreds of asylum seekers having been displaced after wildfires struck the area.

An individual who had been moved from the camp said everyone was “exhausted” and the situation was “very painful”.

The camp, called the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC), was evacuated on Sunday because of large forest fires in the region. Over 350 firefighters were reported to be battling against the flames as of Monday, with strong winds turning three separates blazes in the area into one large fire.

Ruhi Akhtar, CEO of aid organisation Refugee Biriyani & Bananas, told The i Paper that 629 refugees from the camp had been moved to a stadium in the island’s capital, Chios town, as a result of the blaze, where they slept overnight.

One of the camp’s inhabitants and a member of the charity’s team, Muneeb, was among those evacuated. “Everyone is exhausted,” he said. “We’ve been separated – some of us are staying inside the stadium, others are outside, but it’s very painful.”

He added: “We didn’t expect to be here more than one day, but as the situation worsens, we have no choice. There are no blankets, it’s hard to sleep or rest. We just hope to return to the camp, but the fire is still burning. We are very tired, but for now, this is the only option while we wait for a solution.”

Ms Akhtar said the camp had hosted up to 1,400 people at a time in the past year, with members of the charity operating on the island in the northeastern Aegean Sea since 2017. She said the centre had hosted nationals from a range of countries including Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen.

The CEO added that fires in the area were still ongoing, and it was unclear to what extent the camp itself had been damaged.

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“Many were forced to flee [the camp] with just the clothes they were wearing, leaving behind the few belongings they had managed to hold onto through already unimaginable hardship,” she said. “Over half of the camp’s population are women and children, many of whom have already fled war-torn countries in search of safety.”

Push alerts have been issued to urge tourists and locals to evacuate from 16 different villages and settlements. A major investigation has since been launched, with officials believing the blazes could have been started by a deliberate arson attack.

Hotel manager Nena, who has lived in Chios for the past eight years, described the outbreak of the fire as “hell on earth”. Guests scheduled to check in on Monday were told to postpone their arrival.

“We decided to offer free of charge all of our rooms to the firefighters that were ordered to come to Chios to assist in extinguishing the fires. The destruction is terrifying.”

Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis told a news conference that 171 more firefighters would be sent to Chios on Monday to join the 190 already there that were being assisted by 11 aircraft.

He said: “The situation remains critical as firefighting forces are still dealing with many active fronts, several of which being near hamlets.”

Sitting at Europe’s hot southernmost tip, Greece has felt the economic and environmental impact of frequent wildfires in recent years that scientists say have been exacerbated by a fast-changing climate.

The country has spent hundreds of millions of euros to compensate households and farmers for damage related to extreme weather and to update firefighting equipment. It has hired a record number of firefighters this year, some 18,000 of them, in anticipation of a challenging fire season.

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