Greece, fires and responsibility

In the controversial trial for the disastrous fire that destroyed the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesvos, which ended with a conviction, the defence used new scientific data on the fragility of ecosystems to the threat of fire

“The crime was not the fire, the crime was Moria”, read the banner waiving outside the appeals court on Lesvos Island on March 6, 2024, when 4 Afghani asylum seekers were expecting a decision on their case.

A few hours later, 3 of them were paroled and referred to a new trial, as they were minors at the time when the incidents happened. The trial of the remaining defendant continued until March 8, 2024, when he was found guilty and sentenced to 8 years in prison. The case has raised various concerns on human rights, rule of law and security in the migration context.

The chronicle of a tragedy foretold

The four defendants were originally part of the so-called “Moria 6”, a group of six young asylum seekers – 5 minors and an adult – who had been arrested by the local police a few days after the outbreak of the tragic fire at the Moria refugee camp, in September 2020, which left 13,000 people without shelter.

When the defendants were arrested, the Fire Service was still conducting an investigation. Despite the lack of evidence, pictures of the “arsonists” in handcuffs spread all over the media.

In the meantime, the outrageous living conditions at the camp were exposed. Notis Mitarachi, the Greek Migration Minister at the time, tried to appease the public opinion with pompous statements: addressing the members of the Standing Committee for Public Administration, Public Order and Justice, he claimed that infrastructure in Moria was already being improved significantly and that “those responsible for the fire would be punished and deported”.

In June 2021, the 4 defendants were convicted by the Mixed Jury Court of Chios of “arson with danger to human life” and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Their conviction was based on the written testimony of a single witness.

Although no one could tell exactly how it had all started, several witnesses connected the tragedy with a series of violent incidents breaking among camp residents in the late hours of 8 September 2020.

In particular, allegations of a strong disagreement over coronavirus isolation measures soon spiralled into an inter-ethnic fight derailing beyond control.

Mitarachi said that "incidents in Moria began with the asylum seekers because of the quarantine". A few months later, interviewed by a Greek media outlet, he mentioned that government plans to create a safer refugee camp with decent human conditions in the region had been resisted by local authorities – a decision that proved to be disastrous.

Mitarachi blamed Kostas Moutzouris, North Aegean regional governor, who sued him in response in April, 2021.

The infamous camp had been defined by international reporters and aid workers as ‘hell on earth’, ‘a time bomb’ and ‘a disaster waiting to happen’, where people would be kept for years under inhumane conditions. At its peak, the camp hosted more than 14,000 people in a space originally designed for 2,150, while casualties had been reported due to dire living conditions, poor hygiene and scarce food supplies (OBCT 2/12/2019).

A different perspective

The 2021 trial of the four Afghanis was marked with controversy since the very beginning. With the singular witness not appearing in court and therefore not being in a position to be cross-examined, the defendants’ lawyers pointed out “erroneous or incomplete interpretations” of their clients’ intentions and events on the night of the fire.

In 2023, new evidence was brought to light: defence lawyers attempted to reconstruct the scene by releasing the analysis of research conducted by Forensic Architecture/Forensis, which they had tasked with investigating the case.

Based on people’s testimonies and official written reports as well as the examination of audiovisual material, FA/Forensis findings attributed the fire to geographical, morphological and meteorological conditions rendering this Mediterranean region more prone to wildfires, especially in September, when “the ground is driest”. In a Press Conference held in March 2023, experts Dimitra Andritsou and Stefanos Levidis explained the following:

“Dry conditions, combined with the precarity and density resulting from policies imposed by Greek and EU authorities, led to a steep increase in large fires every year around this time. Our analysis reveals significant inconsistencies in the testimony of the key witness and casts further doubt on the evidence based on which the young asylum seekers were charged”.

The experts’ analysis drew significantly on footage shot by young migrants themselves in the framework of a training course in film-making and reporting provided by an organisation working with refugees on Lesvos.

Fire prevention: a matter of culture and values

In a wider perspective, this opens a new discussion on the topic of fire prevention and management, especially in wildfire-prone regions such as Lesvos.

Regardless of the final outcome, the fact that a climate/morphology-related hypothesis was used in trial highlights the relevance of projects addressing extreme phenomena affecting Greece.

OBCT interviewed Professor Kostas Kalabokidis, who is in charge of the Greek Living Lab (LL) in the FIRE-RES initiative – a project providing innovative solutions for fire resilient territories in Europe, including Lesvos.

“Forest ecosystems of the Mediterranean region are recurrently threatened by extreme wildfire events, significantly impacting essential ecosystem services”, says Kalabokidis. “Our studies aim to examine the intricate relationships between fire suppression and management strategies and diverse ecosystem services affected by wildfires, with the aim of developing a comprehensive and tailored framework for wildfire-resilient landscapes”.

Professor Kalabokidis stresses how the use of advanced methodological approaches, such as trade-off analysis, scenario planning or stochastic simulations can eventually contribute to reducing wildfire hazards and risks.

FIRE-RES studies not only environmental factors, but also socio-economic conditions that can make a region more prone to fires and other disasters. In the case of the over-populated Moria camp, population size and density acted as catalysts, combined with the extensive use of cheap, flammable materials.

Other factors include the lack of proper training among residents and practitioners on how to prevent and manage a fire-related emergency and limited awareness – especially among young residents, as evidenced by the trial proceedings – of the consequences of exhibiting irresponsible behaviour that could lead to a disaster and a serious crime.

FIRE-RES stresses the importance of instilling values in populations living in fire-resilient regions; this could translate into a toolbox of attitudes, competences and practices among civilians from different spheres of society, that would enable them to have a better understanding of imminent dangers, but also viable solutions.