Several migrants have fled from the Moria refugee centre located on the Island of Lesbos – which was quarantined due to the coronavirus epidemic – when a fire broke out. Some of them may set out for the Hungarian border, the Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister said on the public service television news channel M1 on Wednesday.

György Bakondi said there are far more migrants in the refugee centre than its capacity would allow, and in the overcrowded institution, due to the emergence of the epidemic, the Greek authorities imposed quarantine restrictions. This caused tensions, and residents of the centre started demonstrating. Fires broke out in multiple locations in which several people were injured.

Residents of the centre attacked the attending members of the fire brigade, and despite the arrival at the site of rapid response police units, several migrants fled from the centre, heading for the island’s central settlements, he added.

He stressed that these incidents also have an impact on the migration situation at the Hungarian borders as those setting out from the island may head for Serbia via the Balkans route, and may attempt to enter the territory of the European Union by crossing the Hungarian border.

On Kossuth Radio’s programme ‘Good morning, Hungary,’ Mr Bakondi said this year so far more than 22,000 illegal border crossers have been apprehended at the Hungarian borders, and the number of people smugglers has multiplied compared with last year’s data. In addition to posing a threat to public security, migrants also pose a public health threat to European citizens, he added.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)