Moria - a shameful dance

(Edit: new photos by MSF added) 

I actually planned to write the final announcement of my second book (Het Transport) today, but that can wait another week. I am furious, and it seems I am not the only one, having read the reactions of refugee support organisations and the papers this morning.

Some of you who read the English version may remember what I wrote in The Batavian, about a Greek refugee camp being set on fire. Well, the inevitable has happened: Camp Moria on Lesbos burned down. In a another way from what I described in my book, but still.

source: Médecins Sans Frontières

This is what happens when you put thousands of people in a filthy concentration camp and then subject them to a Covid-19 lockdown, making life even more difficult. The camp was torched - apparently a few people have thrown in the towel and set it on fire. Predictably, the Greek authorities' initial reaction is that the "culprits" will be punished.

Culprits? The real culprits are the indecisive, heartless rulers of the EU, who for five years failed to find a humane solution to a problem that will never go away. You can ignore it, you can put a fence around it, let yourself be blackmailed by a bunch of Eastern European autocrats who are holding the entire EU hostage. You can make a bad refugee deal with Erdogan, who has successfully turned it into a game of harassing the EU, but it won't go away.

source: Médecins Sans Frontières

Finally, Dutch politicians seemed to have seen the light. But only after a huge fire broke out in a refugee camp, resulting in thousands of people now sleeping out in the open. The last hurdle our right-wing Coalition had to overcome was the harsh stance of one coalition party, the VVD Liberals (Conservatives in UK parlance), who try with all their might to lock the gates on every refugee. Something had to be done, not out of charity, but in order not to endanger the right-wing coalition.

Let me be clear: I don't believe those people will be very happy here. They’d probably prefer a normal life in their own country instead of running away from war and poverty. But if more than a hundred Dutch town mayors back in April petitioned the Government, saying they want to do everything possible to accommodate young and vulnerable refugees, what is the problem? Yes, it will raise questions and no doubt it will cause adjustment problems. But we can handle that.

source: Médecins Sans Frontières

So what is the coalition doing now? They will allow one hundred of the thirteen thousand homeless people from Moria into the country. You have read correctly. ONE HUNDRED. I suppose that will solve the problem. 

Yet another shameful development in the refugee debate, and a compromise to be truly proud of. As always: too little, too late. "We take our responsibility," said Rob Jetten, one coalition party foreman. It’s what I call conscience money. 

By the way, these one hundred will be taken from the UNHCR ‘quotum’ of 500 fixed for next year. Refugee support groups are furious, but the creases in the coalition have been smoothed once more, and Parliament rests.