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EU-funded camp being built in forest on Lesbos

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Opponents say site at risk of fire

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Lawsuits filed to halt construction

By Alexander Durie and Goldy Levy

LONDON/MADRID, May 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The

pristine pine forest of Vastria on the Greek island of Lesbos is

known for its size and beauty, but it has attracted harsher

attention more recently as the planned site of a European

Union-funded migration centre that islanders say increases the

risk of wildfires.

About 24 hectares (59 acres) of forest area have been

cleared for prefabricated containers that will house around

5,000 asylum seekers, with barbed-wire fencing and high-tech

surveillance surrounding the camp.

Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of migrants have

used Lesbos as an entry point to Europe, and the Greek

government says it needs a new, high-security facility to better

manage migration on the Aegean island.

The Closed Controlled Access Centre, at a cost of about 76

million euros ($85.5 million), looks like a "detention centre"

and a "prison in the middle of the forest", said Michalis Bakas,

an environmental expert and leader of Lesbos' Green Party.

A 45-minute drive from Lesbos' capital Mytilene and the

nearest hospital, the Vastria camp is surrounded by trees prone

to wildfires, next to a landfill and a protected Natura 2000

reserve full of endangered species.

It is so remote, locals say, that it will be difficult for

emergency services to get there.

"This is a trend across Europe to build camps out of sight

and out of mind, where refugees don't have a chance to build a

life," said Lorraine Leete, coordinator of the Legal Centre

Lesvos, which provides migrants with free legal assistance.

A local forestry expert, who asked to remain anonymous for

contractual reasons, said that the pine forest grows on or near

volcanic rock, which "is the most flammable type of ecosystem in

the Mediterranean".

Normally, these forests take three to four decades to

recover from fires, but with increasingly frequent heatwaves and

droughts due to climate change, it is unclear how this ecosystem

will cope with the disruption caused by the camp.

Another reason locals fear fires is because the Moria

migrant camp on Lesbos was shut after a deadly blaze in 2020.

Moria was Europe's biggest migrant camp, a sprawling and

overcrowded town of tents and improvised shelters, notorious for

its poor and often dangerous living conditions.

The new camp is in a zone designated as "high risk" by the

European Forest Fire Information System, according to the Legal

Centre Lesvos.

"(Vastria) is the only forest remaining in Lesbos," said

Liza Papadimitriou, advocacy manager for Lesvos Solidarity, a

non-governmental organisation supporting refugees since 2012.

"It will impact future generations for years if burned down."

Citing fire department figures, Papadrimitiou said Moria

recorded 247 fires from January 2013 to September 2020.

Leete noted there is evidence that "fires always happen in

refugee camps due to poor conditions, no safe cooking and

electrical shortages."

MIGRATION HOTSPOT

Greece has long been a favoured gateway to Europe for

migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In

2015, nearly 1 million people landed on its islands, half of

them on Lesbos.

Since then, the number of arrivals has fallen on Lesbos but

is at the highest level since 2019 across Greece, with around

54,000 people arriving by sea in 2024.

The Vastria camp is part of the European Commission's wider

scheme to modernise migration management through the EU Pact on

Migration and Asylum, which comes into effect in 2026. It and

similar centres on other Greek islands are funded by the

European Commission's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and

with emergency assistance monies.

When plans for the camp were unveiled in 2020, European

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to "bring

decent conditions to migrants and refugees who arrive, as well

as supporting the communities on the Greek islands."

Authorities in Greece have since been under pressure to

deliver the facility, but construction has repeatedly halted due

to lawsuits from authorities from the island and neighbouring

communities.

Papadimitriou said the Greek government had not consulted

island authorities properly.

"It shows complete disregard for the public interest," she

said.

An EU spokesperson said that Greece's migration ministry

chose a site on Lesbos after meeting with local representatives.

"Greek authorities are responsible for setting up the

necessary infrastructure and meeting all legal, safety and

security requirements, including fire protection. They also need

to secure all building and environmental permits and comply with

all relevant laws," the spokesperson said, requesting to be

unnamed.

The spokesperson said the Commission provided

155 million euros for centres on Lesbos and the island of Chios.

Greece's Ministry of Migration and Asylum did not respond to

a request for comment.

In 2023, its then minister, Dimitris Kairidis, said: "We

want European solutions, we want European cooperation, and that

is Vastria."

RARE FLORA AND FAUNA

Opponents of the camp say a mandatory environmental impact

assessment was only conducted by authorities after building had

begun, raising concerns over procedural violations and a

disregard for the site's wildfire risks.

The centre is almost finished, but the Greek Council of

State, the country's highest administrative court, is set to

rule on a case brought by islanders and others against the

construction.

An environmental impact assessment in 2022 conducted for a

legal appeal by the Mytilene municipality found "the licensing

and execution of the project was carried out in violation of the

applicable legislation."

The report, which was shared with the Thomson Reuters

Foundation, also said the centre was being built near an

EU-protected site for migratory birds, such as the black

vulture, that is also home to the rare Kruper's nuthatch.

Christos Tsivgoulis, the deputy mayor for environment at

the Mytilene municipality, said the migration ministry was

"downplaying the potential impacts on the forest ecosystem" and

that a special assessment required for EU-protected areas was

never conducted.

"The government's handling of the issue so far has been

marked by consistent unreliability," he said.

(Reporting by Alexander Durie and Goldy Levy; editing by Clar

Ni Chonghaile and Ayla Jean Yackley. The Thomson Reuters

Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit https://context.news/)