Migrants Flee Moria Refugee Camp After Devastating Fire

Thousands of asylum seekers on the Greek island of Lesbos fled for their lives as a huge fire ripped through the camp of Moria, the country’s largest migrant facility.

Over 12,000 men, women and children ran in panic out of containers and tents and into adjoining olive groves and fields as the fire destroyed most of the overcrowded, squalid camp.

The blaze started just hours after the migration ministry said that 35 people had tested positive for COVID-19 at the camp.

UNICEF is deploying emergency response staff to Moria to assist our partners on the ground. The protection of refugee children is our top priority.

Children desperately need your help. Donate now and help send life-saving humanitarian supplies to Lesbos.

fire refugee camp lesbos
On September 9, 2020 migrants walk inside the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece during a major fire there.
©UNICEF/UNI367861/Lagoutaris/AFP

Refugee & Migrant Children at Risk

50 million children with nowhere to call home. That’s ten times the population of Ireland – more than at any other time in history. It is a crisis of global proportions and it is destroying children’s lives.

Made homeless and stateless by crises they didn’t create, refugee and migrant children face terrible dangers in their desperate scramble to safety.

These children are fleeing truly dreadful circumstances. Poverty, violence, exploitation, natural disaster and war. Many of these children are alone. They are frightened, exhausted and desperate.

Many are hungry, cold and scared for their lives. These children may be refugees, internally displaced or migrants. But first and foremost, they are children – no matter where they come from, who they are, without exception.

Every one of them is seeking a different life than the one they left behind. Like every child, they just want to be safe and happy.

How Will My Donation Help Children?

UNICEF is entirely funded by voluntary contributions your support is vital in getting lifesaving help and supplies to children in urgent need.

  • €50 can provide 10 tired and hungry children with a hot meal and clean water.
  • €75  can protect 15 children with a personal hygiene kit containing vital essentials like soap and toothpaste.
  • €100 can ensure 16 children on the move have somewhere safe to sleep for a night.

 

Other Ways to Donate

You can make a donation by phone, you can reach us on 01 878 3000, our office hours are Monday to Friday 09:00 – 18:00.

You can send your donation by post to;

Freepost,

UNICEF Ireland,

33 Lower Ormond Quay,

Dublin D01 R283.

You can help us reach more children affected by the conflict and natural disasters. Please donate today and help us protect children in emergencies.

In the unlikely event that the funds raised exceed UNICEF’s funding requirements for this appeal, your donation will be directed to where the need is greatest.