Greece: police use tear gas made by Brazilian company against migrants after Moria fire

After a huge fire engulfed Moria, a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, authorities attacked migrants protesting the construction of a new camp on the island. Lydia Emmanouilidou, a journalist for the Greek publication The World posted photos and video of police officers firing tear gas at groups of migrants, and images of empty canisters which appear to have been produced by the Brazilian company Condor.

Earlier today Greek police threw several rounds of teargas in area where thousands of asylum-seekers displaced by #Moria camp fire are taking shelter. I asked officers @ scene what happened. First they said “nothing.” When I said I had video they told me to stop asking Qs & leave pic.twitter.com/LSDqfshYrP

— Lydia Emmanouilidou (@lydiaemman) September 12, 2020

The protesters - who want to leave the island altogether - were trying to march to the island's capital Mytilene. Moria was meant to house 3,000 migrants, but when the fires started over 13,000 were housed there, and had become Europe's largest refugee camp. Access to sanitation, water and food was very poor, with NPR reporting that "Trash was left to rot, the few toilets overflowed with waste, and there was a severe shortage of water taps and soap." Since the fire many migrants, including families with children, have been camping in the open air with very limited access to food and water.