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The largest migrant camp in Europe was set ablaze. Here's what it looked like before and after the fires.

Satellite images show the destruction of the Moria refugee camp, Europe's largest migrant camp, after it was ravaged by a fire

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <keyword id="28762" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="fire">fire</keyword> tore through Europe's largest migrant camp on Wednesday morning, forcing thousands of people to flee.</li><li>The blaze at <keyword id="3144839" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moria">Moria</keyword>, on the Greek island of Lesbos, began at 2 a.m., Greek <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> agency ANA reported.</li><li>Photos and videos posted to social media show the extent of the blaze, as well as the aftermath seen in the light of day.</li><li>The camp was built in 2015 with a maximum capacity of 3,000 people, but as many as 20,000 called it home until Wednesday.</li><li>The police cordoned off the surrounding roads to stop people from going to the nearby towns, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54082201">the BBC reported</a>, and the mayor the island's largest town said police are guarding the migrants on a highway.</li></ul><p>A blaze tore through Europe's largest migrant camp on Wednesday morning, displacing as many as 20,000 refugees.</p><p>Images and videos posted to social media showed fires raging through Moria, a camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, at around 2 a.m. local time.</p><p>The exact cause of the fire is not yet known, but it began after clashes broke out when 35 refugees who recently tested positive for COVID-19 refused to isolate with their families, <a href="https://www.amna.gr/en/article/486065/Protests-and-fire-break-out-at-Moria-hotspot">the Greek news agency ANA reported.</a></p><p>Shortly after news of the fire broke, Ylva Johansson, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, <a href="https://twitter.com/YlvaJohansson/status/1303579928085094401">tweeted</a> that 400 children had been evacuated to the Greek mainland.</p><div type="image" title="A family sleeps at a parking space, following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece, September 9, 2020. REUTERS/Elias Marcou" height="2333" width="3500" msid="78015451" hostid="261"></div><p>The camp was built in 2015 with an maximum capacity of 3,000, but as of Wednesday, as many as 20,000 people had been living there, <a href="https://helprefugees.org/volunteer-blog/moria-february-2020/">according to the charity Help Refugees.</a></p><p>At least 25 firefighters and 10 fire engines attended the blaze, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/lesbos-refugee-camp-fire-forces-thousands-to-evacuate">The Guardian reported</a>. The newspaper said migrants attempted to prevent authorities from extinguishing the fire.</p><p>Journalists on the ground <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/moria-ablaze-hundreds-forced-flee-overcrowded-camp-greece-200909035949757.html">reported</a> that the whole camp was ablaze.</p><p>Police officers have cordoned off the roads surrounding the camp to stop migrants from going to the nearby towns, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54082201">the BBC reported</a>. Stratos Kytelis, the mayor of Mylinene — the largest town on Lesbos island — also said that officers were monitoring people on a highway.</p><p>"The fire spread inside and outside of the camp and has destroyed it," Kytelis <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/world/europe/thousands-flee-fire-at-migrant-camp-on-covid-19-lockdown-in-greece">told Skai radio</a>. "There are more than 12,000 migrants being guarded by police on a highway."</p><p>Footage taken after dawn on Wednesday has lain bare the extent of the destruction.</p><p>The debate over how to address the growing number of migrants entering Europe is once again at the forefront of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-explains-the-new-migration-crisis-at-europes-borders-2020-3">political discourse</a>, as it was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/migration-crisis-european-union-immigration-britain-2016-8">in 2015.</a></p><p>The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has seen a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/20/greece-prepares-for-arrival-of-migrants-amid-deteriorating-ties-with-turkey">more migrants than ever</a> flee their homes for Europe in recent months.</p><div type="image" title="Refugees and migrants are seen among destroyed shelters following a fire at the Moria camp on the Island of Lesbos, Greece September 9, 2020. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis" height="2000" width="3000" msid="78015461" hostid="261"></div><p><keyword id="6357856" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Greece">Greece</keyword> — which, given its location, is one of the first destinations reached by migrants fleeing the Middle East and North Africa — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-greece-prepares-for-crisis-2020-3">has struggled to handle the growing number of migrants entering the country</a>.</p><p>In August, Greece <a href="https://www.insider.com/migrants-abandoned-at-sea-by-greece-past-few-months-2020-8">reportedly abandoned 1,000 refugees</a> at the edge of its water territory, an act which is illegal under international law.</p><p>Both Greece and Hungary <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hungary-greece-closing-borders-asylum-seekers-coronavirus-2020-3">closed their borders to asylum seekers on February 29</a>, citing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-coronavirus-outbreak-could-leave-refugees-even-more-vulnerable-2020-3">safety concerns over the pandemic.</a></p><p>Thirty-five people at Moria have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday. The first case, reported on August 2, prompted authorities to impose a lockdown and quarantines on the camp, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/greece-refugee-camp-fire/a-54861061">Deutsche Welle reported.</a></p><p>Elsewhere in Europe, the UK is experiencing record numbers of migrant arrivals.</p><p>In August, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-deploys-military-drone-migrants-english-channel-record-crossings-2020-9">1,468 refugees arrived in the UK</a> after making the crossing across the English Channel from France. The total number of arrivals to the UK has surpassed 5,000 in 2020 so far.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-deploys-military-drone-migrants-english-channel-record-crossings-2020-9">The UK is using a military drone to monitor and stop migrants from crossing the English channel, after a record 1,400 crossed in August</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/migrants-abandoned-at-sea-by-greece-past-few-months-2020-8">Greece has secretly sent away more than 1,000 migrants, taking them to the edge of the country's territorial waters and then abandoning them at sea</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/turkey-syria-threatens-refugee-crisis-europe-2020-2">Turkey threatens to push a new refugee crisis onto Europe after its vicious conflict in Syria hit a tipping point</a><a></a></li></ul>

A fire tore through Europe's largest migrant camp, displacing as many as 20,000 refugees

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Fires that levelled the <keyword id="3144839" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moria">Moria</keyword> refugee camp in <keyword id="6357856" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Greece">Greece</keyword>, leaving up to 12,000 people homeless, started after a single ATM machine was blocked in a Covid quarantine measure.</li><li>The entire camp was dependent on the bank machine for money. Food, soap, and baby supplies became scarce.</li><li>Youths lit small fires in protest, but they got out of control.</li><li>Sources at the scene told Insider how the entire camp was incinerated in just a few hours.</li></ul><p>Just after 10 p.m. on the night of Tuesday, September 8, a demonstration in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos took a terrible turn as a handful of small fires lit by frustrated protesters spread quickly into the tightly crowded facility, engulfing it completely.</p><p>The next morning, when the flames were done, most of the camp was destroyed. Nearly 12,000 people were left homeless.</p><p>The cause?</p><p>It started with the removal of access to an ATM machine on which the entire camp was dependent for money.</p><h2>Covid arrives, cutting off access to the bank machine</h2><p>Additional fires occurred Wednesday night across the remainder of the site. <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/greece-moria-camp-fire-refugees-homeless-migrants-lesbos">Greek officials scrambled later that day to arrange housing for the refugees.</a> Meanwhile, fistfights and protests broke out as refugees demanded to be moved off Lesbos and frustrated residents tried to prevent new housing from being built. </p><p>The refugees had no intention of burning down the camp where they lived, said Mohammed Akbar, a 42-year-old Afghan father of three who spoke with Insider by WhatsApp.  </p><p>But then coronavirus arrived, bringing with it a quarantine. The imposed isolation of the camp cut off its residents from the lone ATM machine that served all them — the only banking facility they had.</p><p>Moria was designed in 2015 to briefly hold 3,000 people, as waves of <keyword id="6391453" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="refugees">refugees</keyword> fled the wars in Syria and Northern Iraq. But "briefly" became permanent, and by Wednesday as many as 12,000 lived there. Lesbos's pre-migration population was only 86,000.</p><h2>Hours-long lines for money</h2><p>Akbar described a scene in which the already overcrowded camp turned hellish after 35 residents tested positive for COVID, prompting a total lockdown of the facilities. For many, the "facilities" are merely tents and plastic sheeting.</p><p>Restrictions were imposed on who could stand in line for hours to receive a family's food rations — and that pushed the camp's already precarious food situation further into chaos. The restrictions included closing off the ATM machine. Even when the machine was operating, long lines formed in front of it, as these photos from May show:</p><p>The bank machine was the only way Moria residents could withdraw or receive money, as the camp is beyond walking distance into the nearest town. So simple tasks — such as obtaining food, soap, or diapers — suddenly became very difficult, and the camp became dependent on a flawed official handout system, sources told Insider.</p><p>People began to panic because they couldn't get money to buy the things they needed.  </p><p>"The ATM machine was closed so there was no money to buy food, no shops open," said Akbar. "And sometimes the meals they give you would not come. Families were hungry and babies needed milk," he said.  </p><p>The protests, which became common as thousands remained stuck in the island camp for years, were intended to pressure authorities into reopening the bank, smoothing the food distribution, and moving some families off the island to reduce overcrowding. </p><div type="image" title="GettyImages 1228429895" height="1333" width="2000" msid="78048575" hostid="261"></div><h2>The fires begin</h2><p>Some youths began to light small protest fires.</p><p>"The fire came from the young boys not the adults, some of them have no parents or families to control them, they were causing trouble with the police," said Akbar, in an account confirmed by multiple other witnesses.</p><p>Moria is set among olive trees on a windswept hillside — and the wind quickly took the flames into areas filled with plastic tenting. It spread to propane gas canisters used by most families to cook meals.  </p><p>Greek officials have promised to deport the individuals who lit the fires and say they've opened an investigation. </p><p>By Wednesday, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-statement-fire-moria-camp-lesvos-greece">officials had begun plans to move hundreds of unaccompanied minors to facilities on the mainland</a>. Thus far, they have refused to allow the bulk of the now-homeless refugees off the island.  </p><h2>'They want us to leave the island and we want to leave the island'</h2><p>In the scramble to house more than 10,000 people were suddenly made homeless — in many cases sleeping in fields and on roadsides — <a href="https://www.ekathimerini.com/256793/article/ekathimerini/news/ferry-for-homeless-moria-migrants-docks-in-lesvos-but-locals-block-road">Greece announced that a new facility would be built</a> and that refugees would be housed on ferries and naval ships dispatched to the scene.</p><p>Island residents have complained for months about the facility. They were told it would be temporary more than five years ago. This week they engaged in a series of blockades and clashes with riot police dispatched from Athens to prevent any further "temporary" solution.  </p><p>"They want us to leave the island and we want to leave the island," said Akbar. </p><p><em><a href="https://www.msf.org/donate">To donate to a relief fund for migrants in Greece, go to the website for Médecins Sans Frontières</a>.</em></p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/abdel-majed-abdel-bary-arrested-in-spain-2020-4?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">A major ISIS figure whom everyone thought was killed in Syria turned out to be living in a seaside town in Spain</a></li></ul>

A fire that left more than 10,000 people homeless in a single night started after an ATM was blocked in a coronavirus quarantine

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A second <keyword id="28762" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="fire">fire</keyword> swept through the <keyword id="6357856" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Greece">Greece</keyword>'s Moria <keyword id="68250" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="refugee-camp">refugee camp</keyword>, destroying what was left after an earlier fire devastated the site.</li><li>More than 12,000 people were living in the notoriously overcrowded camp, long seen as a symbol of Europe's failed <keyword id="6417889" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="migrant">migrant</keyword> policies.</li><li>Authorities blocked access to nearby towns, leaving people to sleep on roads and in fields, some reports claimed.</li><li>Greece's migration and asylum minister said the fire "began with the asylum seekers" but did not elaborate, and some migrants said far-right Greeks started the fires.</li></ul><p>A second fire tore through Europe's largest <keyword id="37860" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Refugee">refugee</keyword> camp on Wednesday, destroying what little was left behind in the overcrowded site after an earlier blaze forced thousands of people to flee.</p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/greece-moria-refugee-camp-fire-2020-9">The first blaze at Moria</a>, on Greece's <keyword id="3040932" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Lesbos">Lesbos</keyword> island, began early on Wednesday morning. And another major fire broke out on Wednesday night, razing what had survived until that point.</p><p>About 12,500 people were living in the camp, Reuters reported.</p><div type="image" title="moria camp greece" height="1331" width="2000" msid="78038896" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="lesbos10" height="3333" width="5000" msid="78038898" hostid="261"></div><p>The camp was known for its poor living conditions, and had originally been <a href="https://www.insider.com/greece-moria-refugee-camp-fire-2020-9">designed to hold just 3,000 people</a>. Most people lived in makeshift shacks and tents.</p><p>Authorities brought around 400 unaccompanied children and teenagers to the Greek mainland on chartered flights, according to Reuters.</p><div type="image" title="moria migrant camp greece" height="1333" width="2000" msid="78038901" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="greece moria migrant camp" height="1333" width="2000" msid="78038904" hostid="261"></div><p>But thousands more people remain with no shelter.</p><p>Reuters reported that families slept on the side of the road, in parking lots and in fields.</p><div type="image" title="moira camp greece" height="1331" width="2000" msid="78038906" hostid="261"></div><p>Valencia, an eight-year-old girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, gestured to a Reuters reporter to ask for a biscuit because she was hungry.</p><p>"Our home burned, my shoes burned, we don't have food, no water," she said.</p><p>She and her mother, who has a newborn baby, slept on the side of the road, with her mother telling Reuters:  "There is no food, no milk for the baby."</p><p>Thanasis Voulgarakis, one of the camp's residents, told the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54082201">BBC</a> after the first fire that some parts of the camp had survived the first fire: "Now with the first light I can see that there is a few tents that make it, they are okay, but the rest of the camp, as I can see from this distance, is burnt out."</p><p>This is what the camp looked like before the first fire:</p><div type="image" title="lesbos camp" height="3280" width="4928" msid="78038909" hostid="261"></div><p>And after:</p><div type="image" title="moira camp greece" height="1333" width="2000" msid="78038911" hostid="261"></div><p>You can see more before and after photos from the first fire <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/photos-destruction-refugee-camp-moria-fire-lesbos-greece-2020-9">here</a>.</p><p>But Reuters reported that the second fire destroyed what was left.</p><p>Police blocked to nearby towns to stop the migrants from entering, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54082201">the BBC reported</a>.</p><p>And it noted that reports have said that locals attacked and prevented the migrants from passing through a nearby town.</p><div type="image" title="GettyImages 1228429895" height="1333" width="2000" msid="78038914" hostid="261"></div><h2>An unclear cause</h2><p>Notis Mitarachi, Greece's immigration and asylum minister, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54082201">said</a> the fires "began with the asylum seekers", but did not elaborate on what he meant.</p><p>He said that the island being placed under quarantine last week over coronavirus cases had been a factor. Authorities said that some people who tested positive <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2020/09/10/new-fire-at-overcrowded-migrant-camp-on-greek-island-of-lesbos">refused to isolate themselves</a>.</p><p>But, the BBC noted, he did not say that the fires were started deliberately to destroy the camp.</p><p>And some migrants at the camp told BBC Persian that "far-right Greeks" were to blame. They said Greeks were acting after coronavirus cases were reported at the camp, and the migrants <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCParham/status/1303606842719862785">took photos of what they said were canisters used to ignite the flames</a>.</p><h2>Criticisms of overcrowding</h2><p>The camp has long used by critics as a symbol of what they say is Europe's failure to deal with refugees and asylum seekers.</p><p>Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, said that other camps in Europe have similar conditions, and said that the fires exposes Europe's poor system for dealing with migration "which has led to the overcrowded, inhumane and completely unsustainable situation in Moria and elsewhere on the Aegean islands," Euronews reported.</p><div type="image" title="moira camp greece" height="1333" width="2000" msid="78038919" hostid="261"></div><p>And Adriana Tidona, Amnesty International's migration researcher, said that "reckless EU policies" were to blame for the camp's overcrowding, <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2020/09/10/new-fire-at-overcrowded-migrant-camp-on-greek-island-of-lesbos">according to Euronews</a>.</p><p>"As the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is finalized, this is a timely indictment of the current policy of camps and containment," she said.</p><p>Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović noted similarly overcrowded conditions on other Greek islands and said the situation could degenerate there too.</p><div type="image" title="moria camp greece" height="1333" width="2000" msid="78038920" hostid="261"></div><p>The camp has also been a source of tension between Greece and other European countries, with Greece claiming it has to deal with migrants more than other European countries. </p><p>An international agreement means migrants who arrive through Turkey are kept on Greek islands while their application to continue into the rest of Europe is processed.</p><p>But many end up trapped there for years. The Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders charity, which works with migrants in Greece, <a href="https://www.msf.org.uk/country/greece?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhaKk6Kne6wIVg2DmCh2ZzASfEAAYASAAEgJYM_D_BwE">says that</a> "migrants and refugees previously in transit through the Greek islands have been trapped there for an indeterminate time in overcrowded, unsafe and unhygienic conditions, without access to basic services, adequate shelter or information on their legal status."</p><div type="image" title="lesbos11" height="3254" width="4881" msid="78038924" hostid="261"></div><p>Germany claimed its support for Greece and migrants after the fire, with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas saying "We will not leave Greece alone with this situation -- and above all -- we will not leave the people in this camp alone," according to Euronews.</p><p>He said "We have already offered the Greek government support," and said that Germany would make it an issue while it holds the presidency of the EU.</p><p>Demonstrations have also been held in German cities like Frankfurt and Cologne, calling for better EU migration policies and for Germany to take more refugees.</p><div type="image" title="moria greece camp demonstration" height="1278" width="2000" msid="78038928" hostid="261"></div><p>Greece was already under fire for its treatment of migrants. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/world/europe/greece-migrants-abandoning-sea.html">A New York Times report in August</a> claimed the government had started a process of bringing refugees to the edge of Greek waters and "abandoning them in inflatable and sometimes overburdened life rafts."</p><p>It reported that Greece had abandoned more than 1,000 migrants in the sea this way.</p><p><em>To donate to a relief fund for the refugees, <a href="https://www.msf.org/donate">go to the web site for Médecins Sans Frontiers</a>.</em></p>

Another fire has swept through the largest refugee camp in Europe, destroying what little was left from the first blaze

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Elias Marcou/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Women and children sit at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos,</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The New York Times detailed the strict laws in Denmark that single out the country's growing non-white immigrant population.</strong></li><li><strong>The government designates areas populated by such immigrants as "ghetto neighborhoods," and requires toddlers who live in them to spend 25 hours a week learning "Danish values."</strong></li><li><strong>While many immigrants see themselves as thriving, the largely homogeneous society doesn't always think their presence is positive.</strong></li></ul><p>While America has come under fire in recent weeks for its controversial immigration policies, including the now-defunct "zero-tolerance" policy of separating families at the border, another Western nation is now in the spotlight for what some perceive to be harsh and discriminatory treatment of immigrants.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/01/world/europe/denmark-immigrant-ghettos.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=first-column-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times</a> story published Sunday profiles the strict rules immigrant children in Denmark are subject to by law. Denmark has welcomed an influx of mostly Middle-Eastern immigrants and refugees in recent years, but the society, which is 87% white, native Danes, has struggled to adapt to changing demographics.</p><p>The government has imposed and may continue to introduce strict regulations on what they term "ghetto children" in "ghetto neighborhoods," or poorer urban areas with significant first-generation immigrant and Muslim populations. Approximately two-thirds of Denmark's immigrants hail from majority-Muslim countries in the Middle East.</p><p>Children born in "ghetto neighborhoods" are mandated after their first birthdays to spend 25 hours away from their parents every week to learn "Danish values," including instruction on Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter, as well as Danish language education. Parents who opt to keep their children at home risk losing access to government benefits.</p><p>Other proposals being floated in parliament include doubling penalties for crimes committed in "ghetto neighborhoods" as opposed to mostly white ones, sentencing immigrant parents to years of jail time if they allow their children to travel to their country of origin, and upping government surveillance of "ghetto neighborhoods."</p><p>One lawmaker from the right-wing People's Party, which is gaining power and votes in parliament, even suggested putting ankle bracelets on immigrant children to prevent them from going outside past 8 p.m., a proposal that ultimately did not pan out. </p><p>The differing perspectives of Danish citizens interviewed in the Times article reveals a divide in how immigrants are perceived in Danish society. Muslim immigrants saw themselves as already assimilated into the fabric of Danish life, whereas native-born citizens from middle-class white neighborhoods perceived them to be a burden on society.</p><p>"It hurts that they don't see us as equal people," an 18 year-old refugee from Somalia who lives in a designated ghetto neighborhood told The Times. "We actually live in Danish society. We follow the rules, we go to school. The only thing we don't do is eat pork."</p><p><span>One second-generation immigrant of Lebanese descent interviewed for the story said that she speaks to her children almost entirely in Danish already, so much so that her children barely know Arabic at all.</span></p><p>Some white Danes in mostly white areas, however, told The Times they believe immigrants are lazy, often taking away from Denmark's generous welfare state while leading lives incompatible with "Western values." </p><p>"I think they are 300 to 400 years behind us," one native Dane told The Times.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korean-defector-calls-out-kim-jong-un-terrorist-singapore-summit-2018-6">North Korean defector: Kim Jong Un 'is a terrorist'</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Denmark's extreme immigration policies include separating immigrant toddlers from their parents every week to teach them 'Danish values'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis</span></p><p class="caption">A migrant who will be returned to Turkey holds a placard during a demonstration inside the Moria registration centre on the Greek island of Lesbos, April 5, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Turkish border guards shot and beat up Syrian asylum seekers and smugglers, the human rights organisation Human Rights Watch <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/10/turkey-border-guards-kill-and-injure-asylum-seekers">claimed in a report published on Tuesday.</a></p><p>The report, for which Human Rights Watch interviewed victims and witnesses, says that over the past two months, Turkish border guards killed five people, including a child, and seriously injuring 14 others.</p><p>"While senior Turkish officials claim they are welcoming Syrian refugees with open borders and open arms, their border guards are killing and beating them," said <a href="https://www.hrw.org/about/people/gerry-simpson">Gerry Simpson</a>, senior refugee researcher at Human Rights Watch.</p><p>According to the report, the Turkish government affirms that it has an open-door policy for Syrian refugees, but the human rights group had reported as early as August 2015 that Turkey was pushing back asylum seekers. The report also says that Turkish border guards blocked thousands of Syrians who were fleeing their camp inside of Syria after it had been hit by artillery fire in mid-April.</p><p>Turkey is one of Europe's main partners in tackling the worst refugee crisis since WW2, and is a focal point of the bloc's current strategy. The EU struck a deal with Turkey - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/skepticism-over-the-eu-turkey-deal-is-growing-2016-3" target="_blank">which has been dubbed the 'pact of shame'</a> - to contain the refugees. The deal has been decried by human rights organisations, who have warned for months that the refugees' safety cannot be guaranteed in Turkey.</p><p>The current <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/skepticism-over-the-eu-turkey-deal-is-growing-2016-3" target="_blank">€6 billion deal includes sending refugees who crossed the border after March 20 2016 back to Turkey</a>, and sending migrants who are intercepted by coast guards in the Aegean Sea back to Turkey. The deal also includes speeding up talks for Turkey's adherence to the EU and VISA-free travel to Europe for Turkish citizens.</p><p>Turkish officials have threatened to call off the deal a number of times already, especially because Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan refuses to change the country's anti-terrorism law, which has prompted the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/eu-looking-for-plan-b-if-refugee-deal-with-turkey-falls-apart-2016-5" target="_blank">EU to try and find a new way to deal with the refugee crisis</a>, should the deal falter.</p><p>The Turkish border guards are accused of a series of shootings and beatings during which three children aged three to nine were injured and one smuggler was beaten to death. Syrians living near the border also told Human Rights Watch that in the aftermath of the shootings and beatings, "Turkish border guards fired at them as they tried to recover bodies at the border wall."</p><p>Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the Turkish interior minister, urging the government to investigate the allegations.</p><h2>Read the full <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/10/turkey-border-guards-kill-and-injure-asylum-seekers" target="_blank">Human Rights Report here</a>.</h2>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-refugee-now-owns-four-businesses-after-viral-online-campaign-2016-5">The refugee who sold pens to feed his daughter now owns 4 businesses</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="l5bWtkeToh_f70SZO2VkXhl9awEQILqQ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "moria fire" and got 7 results

The largest migrant camp in Europe was set ablaze. Here's what it looked like before and after the fires.

Taylor Ardrey

Satellite images show the destruction of the Moria refugee camp, Europe's largest migrant camp, after it was ravaged by a fire

Sarah Al-Arshani

A fire tore through Europe's largest migrant camp, displacing as many as 20,000 refugees

Bill Bostock

A fire that left more than 10,000 people homeless in a single night started after an ATM was blocked in a coronavirus quarantine

Mitch Prothero

Another fire has swept through the largest refugee camp in Europe, destroying what little was left from the first blaze

Sinéad Baker

Denmark's extreme immigration policies include separating immigrant toddlers from their parents every week to teach them 'Danish values'

Grace Panetta

A Human Rights Watch report accuses Turkish guards of killing and injuring Syrian refugees

Barbara Tasch

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