Everything is just great!
Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.
This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.
So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.
This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.
Iran Warns against American Military Moves in Iraq
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/04/01/2234488/iran-warns-against-american-military-moves-in-iraq
“Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman warned that the recent American military moves in Iraq could escalate the regional tensions…”
BREITBART – Reports: King of Thailand Self-Isolating in Germany with 20 Female Servants
King of Thailand Maha Vajiralongkorn is currently self-isolating from the Chinese coronavirus in a luxury hotel in Germany with an entourage of 20 concubines and female servants, local reports claimed this week.
While the majority of hotels in Germany are closed as a result of the nationwide quarantine, the 67-year-old is believed to have booked out the entire Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen after local officials gave him “special permission” to do so, according to the German tabloid Bild.
Rather than isolate alone or with close family members, Vajiralongkorn moved in a team of 20 concubines and female servants. His planned entourage of over one hundred people was reportedly scaled down after 119 members were sent back to Thailand amid suspicions they had contracted the virus.
It is unclear if any of the king’s four wives are in the hotel with him. Although the hotel would not provide specific details of the party, a local official told Bild that authorities had approved his stay because “the guests are a single, homogenous group of people with no fluctuation.”
News of Vajiralongkorn’s exploits was poorly received back in his kingdom, with people violating the country’s lèse-majesté laws by criticizing him on social media. Under Thai law, those found guilty of criticizing the monarchy face up to 15 years imprisonment.
However, this threat was not enough to prevent Thais from attacking his exuberant lifestyle. The hashtag #WhyDoWeNeedAKing was shared 1.2 million times across Twitter in 24 hours after the prominent pro-republican activist Somsak Jeamteerasakul claimed that the king flew out of Thailand out of “boredom” as the outbreak was escalating earlier this month. He has also not made a public appearance since February.
“[Vajiralongkorn will] let the Thai people worry about the virus,” wrote Jeamteerasakul, who lives in exile in France. “Even Germany is worried about the virus [but] it’s none of his business.”
Vajiralongkorn’s reign as king began in 2016 following the death of his father, Bhumibol. Although it is impossible to survey his approval among the population, he is believed to be less popular than his father, who ruled the country for more than 70 years. His extravagant lifestyle is funded by his enormous wealth, estimated at around $30 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as the richest leader.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Thailand has recorded 1,771 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 12 deaths. Germany, where the king has currently resided, has a far greater number of 76,544 confirmed cases and 858 deaths.
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2020/04/01/reports-king-thailand-self-isolating-germany-20-female-servants/
China Using Coronavirus for Further Deceit
The coronavirus may be strengthening the determination of China’s government. So far, it has been trying to guarantee absolute loyalty from its populace through surveillance technology and turning China into a spookily Orwellian society. Any hope that the West may have harbored in the past about China evolving into a member of the liberal-democratic international order, should by now be considered dead, expired, extinct.
China has not only been stealing intellectual property from the West for years, as US President Donald J. Trump has long observed; it has also behaved abysmally during the coronavirus crisis in Wuhan — and maybe also before. It is still not known if this coronavirus originated in one of China’s “wet markets”, which have probably caused other diseases, or in a bio-weapons laboratory — and we may never know. What we do know is that when the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control offered to help, China ignored them.
It is also still not known if the coronavirus, as some have suggested, may have been a clever “war by other means” to roadside President Trump, his undesired trade deals, his upcoming re-election campaign — and possibly even the US and the rest of the planet — to advance China’s alleged plan to take over the world. The other possibility, of course, is that this coronavirus outbreak really was just an accident, fortuitous for China, and not part of a plan for expansion. We may never know that, either. What we do know, once again, is that China, for years, has not played it straight about most things (for instance, here and here); that it lied about this epidemic not only to the West but to its own people as well; that it even lied about what country was responsible for the virus, and that even the medical equipment and testing kits it sold to Spain for nearly half a billion dollars, and to Turkey, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands turned out to be defective.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15826/china-coronavirus-deceit
Yemen Denounces Qatar ‘Identifying’ with Iran
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2210851/yemen-denounces-qatar-%E2%80%98identifying%E2%80%99-iran
“The Yemeni government denounced Qatari “identification” with the Iranian regional project, warning against Doha exploiting Yemen in its row with Saudi Arabia…”
Lowest Monthly Death Toll in 9 Years of Syria War
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2211286/lowest-monthly-death-toll-9-years-syria-war
“The war in Syria killed 103 civilians in March, marking the lowest monthly non-combatant death toll since the start of the conflict in 2011, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday.
Of the total deaths, some 51 people were killed in shelling and air strikes by the Syrian regime, Agence France Presse quoted the Observatory as saying.
The bulk of the remaining casualties were caused either by explosive remnants or mysterious “assassinations”, the Observatory added.
The civilian death toll was more than double that of March in February, when a regime offensive on Syria’s last major opposition bastion was still in full swing.
According to the Observatory, the number of deaths that month stood at 275.
The war in Syria has left more than 380,000 people dead since it started nine years ago.
The highest civilian death toll recorded in a month since the start of the conflict was 1,590 in July 2016, when battles between opposition fighters and the regime raged in the northern province of Aleppo.
The United Nations has appealed for a nationwide ceasefire to tackle the novel coronavirus threat, while aid groups have warned of a health catastrophe if the pandemic hits overcrowded displacement camps or crammed regime prisons.”
Turkey’s intelligence arrests head of Afrin police over corruption
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200401-turkeys-intelligence-arrests-head-of-afrin-police-over-corruption/
“Turkish intelligence services arrested the head of police in the Syrian city of Afrin yesterday over charges of corruption, the misuse of power, and sexual harassment.
According to the Syrian news site Zaman al-Wasl, head of Afrin’s police force Colonel Rami Tlass was arrested yesterday by Turkish intelligence due to an ongoing investigation being conducted into allegations of him taking bribes and of sexual harassment.
Tlass, a defector from the Syrian military who joined the resistance against the regime during the ongoing nine-year-long war, was appointed as the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) head of the police force in the northern city of Afrin in May 2018, two months after the Turkish military’s Operation Olive Branch which liberated it from the control of the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Unit (YPG).
The exact actions and details of the charges levelled against Tlass remain largely unrevealed, but according to another media outlet, Step News Agency, he has a reputation in Afrin for having sexual relations with multiple women outside marriage and for taking bribes in cases regarding the enforcement of law and justice in the city. He is reportedly being kept inside the city by Turkish intelligence for interrogation.
The Turkish-backed FSA, part of the interim government representing the Syrian opposition after the mass defection of regime forces to the resistance, has often been accused of perpetuating the same abuses which the regime has long practiced on its population. Turkey’s military and intelligence has said it has attempted to stop the theft, looting, corruption, and mismanagement carried out by the FSA over recent years.”
Libya: Turkey warship fires missiles on sites controlled by Haftar militias
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200401-libya-turkey-warship-fires-missiles-on-sites-controlled-by-haftar-militias/
“According to Libyan news sources, a Turkish warship has fired missiles in the south of the city of Al-Ajaylat, west of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
A Libyan news website reported that rockets fired by a Turkish warship from the sea fell in the agricultural area of ??Dhahra, on the outskirts of the army-held city of Al-Ajaylat, which is under the control of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Local news websites suggested that the Turkish warship may have intended to target Al-Watiya Air Force Base, which is located in the south. However, the missiles were aimed and fired in the wrong direction.
Libyan newspaper Al-Marsad quoted a spokesman for the General Command of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Major General Ahmed Al-Mesmari, stating that a Turkish warship had fired rockets from the sea in the Al-Ajaylat area without casualties.”
2 missiles fired on US troops intercepted in Iraq
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200401-2-missiles-fired-on-us-troops-intercepted-in-iraq/
“Missile defence batteries have intercepted a rocket attack on the Ain Assad base in the west of Iraq, which hosts US troops, an Iraqi army source said yesterday, reports Anadolu.
The Iraqi officer who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity said that Patriot missiles intercepted two rockets launched towards the Ain Assad base west of Al-Ramadi city.
On Monday, Washington deployed Patriot missile defence batteries in bases hosting US troops in Iraq, in Ain Assad base and Harir base in Erbil.
Recently, US soldiers in Iraq came under rocket attacks that Washington blames on Iranian-backed militias in the country.
So far, Baghdad has not commented on the Patriot defence batteries’ deployment.
Following the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq, the Iraqi parliament in January demanded the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq.”
Coronavirus to plunge 8 million into poverty in the Arab world, says UN
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/4/1/coronavirus-to-plunge-millions-into-poverty-in-arab-world
“The coronavirus pandemic will plunge 8.3 million people in the Arab region into poverty, the United Nation’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia said on Wednesday.
ESCWA also warned that two million people could become undernourished as a result.
“With today’s estimates, a total of 101.4 million people in the region would be classified as poor, and 52 million as undernourished,” the UN agency said.
Women and young adults working in the informal sector and who have no access to social welfare are among the most vulnerable, said ESCWA executive secretary Rola Dashti.
“Arab Governments must ensure a swift emergency response to protect their people from falling into poverty and food insecurity owing to the impact of COVID-19,” Dashti added.
ESCWA last month warned that the coronavirus pandemic could wipe out more than 1.7 million jobs across the Arab world this year…”
Spanish Media Lashes Out at Rabat Over Maritime Border Legislation
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/04/298242/spanish-media-lashes-out-at-rabat-over-maritime-border-legislation/
““Morocco takes advantage of coronavirus chaos to extend its maritime borders,” reads La Tribuna’s April 1 headline, while La Voz says, “the Canaries demand ‘a show of force’ from Spain.”
Words like “appropriate” and accusations of foul play pepper the Spanish press this morning as the media responds, with hostility, to Morocco’s move to formalize its maritime borders in the waters between the coast of Morocco’s Western Sahara and the Spanish Canary Islands.
Morocco announced in its Official Bulletin on March 30 that laws 37-17 and 38-17, both amendments to existing laws, are now formalized.
The formalization came after the parliament in Rabat voted to adopt the amendments in December 2019.
The amendments pertain to the limits of Morocco’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), in line with international law as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The first of the two amendments, law 37-17, defines Morocco’s territorial sea that extends over 12 nautical miles from the Moroccan coastline.
In accordance with the UNCLOS, Morocco has sovereignty over its territorial sea and airspace.
In its territorial sea, Morocco has the right to build and protect pipelines, cables, and navigation equipment. The country also has the right to enforce its fiscal, medical, and immigration laws in the territorial sea.
The legislative text protects Morocco’s rights to preserve the marine ecosystem and carry out research on its waters.
The second text, law 38-17, delimits Morocco’s EEZ, extending 200 nautical miles from the coast of Morocco’s Western Sahara. The law also outlines the limits of the continental shelf at 350 nautical miles from the coast.
Dialogue with Madrid
After the Moroccan parliament adopted the laws in December, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Spanish counterpart Arancha Gonzalez Laya assured citizens of both countries that Spain and Morocco would address any overlaps through negotiation, as set out in the UNCLOS.
Following the January meeting, Gonzalez confirmed that Morocco has the right to consolidate its maritime sovereignty while respecting “international conventions on maritime borders.”
The FMs agreed that negotiations are the only solution to the conflict and pledged to maintain an open and constant dialogue on the matter.
Despite the warm relations and constant Rabat-Madrid communications, Spanish media outlets continue to slam the Moroccan move, accusing Rabat of underhanded machinations and taking advantage of the devastating impacts of the novel coronavirus on its European neighbor.
“In the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, with a national state of emergency in Spain and Morocco, with the borders between the two countries closed and relations frozen, Rabat has officialized two laws on the demarcation of its territorial seas which directly affects Spain,” national newspaper El Espanol began an alarmist article on April 1.
Later in the text, the author openly admits that Morocco did enter into negotiations with Spain, quoting Bourita as saying “the question [of an overlap] can be dealt with through dialogue, thanks to the positive relations that exist between the two countries.”
The article then goes on to accuse Rabat of economic cynicism, linking the timing of the move with Morocco’s newfound friendship with post-Brexit Britain.
The article refers to Morocco’s deal with UK oil drilling company Sound Energy, and finishes by spotlighting a potential royal visit to London.
The El Espanol article, like many of its counterparts in the Spanish press this morning, does not refer to Spanish FM Gonzalez’ Twitter response.
The FM responded calmly in a series of tweets, saying that although she had received no prior warning that the laws would become official, she is familiar with the content.
“Morocco and Spain are in agreement that maritime delimitation will need the resolution of overlaps through mutual agreement, in accordance with international law,” the second tweet reads.
Feeding the far right
While few news outlets in Spain have chosen not to report the official response from Gonzalez, several have shared Canary President Angel Torres’ statements of outrage.
“Torres:‘They will not touch even a millimeter of the waters off the archipelago,” reads the Lancelot Digital headline.
The article goes on to outline Torres’ response to the Moroccan move, saying he immediately contacted Gonzalez to call for a strong rebuttal.
Flexing his political muscles, Torres said he “will not accept unilateral decisions” from Morocco.
Ironically, Ceuta al Dia, a news outlet based in the Spanish city enclave in northern Morocco, openly accused Rabat of profiting from the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“Morocco does not let a crisis pass without moving a card and the gigantic crisis of COVID-19 was not going to be an exception,” the regional outlet’s article begins.
It remains to be seen if the alarmist, fear-mongering headlines saturating Spanish newspapers will color Rabat-Madrid relations.
What is clear, however, is that the growing far-right Vox presence in Spanish parliament and in the enclave of Ceuta has already given the green light to the ever-present anti-Morocco sentiment in the Spanish press.”
Moroccans Top List of Foreign Nationals Acquiring EU Citizenship
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/04/298306/moroccans-top-list-of-foreign-nationals-acquiring-eu-citizenship/
“Moroccans maintained their post as the largest group of foreign nationals to acquire citizenship from EU member states in 2018.
According to data from Eurostat published on March 31, 67,200 Moroccans became citizens of EU countries in 2018, representing 10% of all foreign nationals who acquired EU citizenship that year.
A total of 672,339 foreign nationals acquired citizenship in EU countries in 2018, representing a slight decrease of 4% compared to the previous year.
The majority of Moroccans acquired citizenship in Spain (38%), Italy (23%), and France (23%), according to official data.
Eurostat explained that 84% of those acquiring citizenship from one of 27 EU member states had previously been citizens of non-EU countries.
“Of these, citizens of Morocco made up the highest numbers, followed by citizens of Albania, Turkey and Brazil,” the source explained.
The statistics show that one-quarter of new EU citizens were of Moroccan, Albanian, Turkish, and Brazilian origin.
Most of the nationalized Albanians received Greek citizenship (51%) and Italian citizenship (46%). More than half of the Turks received German citizenship (59%), while nearly half of the Brazilians received Italian citizenship (46%).
Grants of citizenship remained stable for Turks and for Moroccans, the statistics show.
In 2017, 67,900 Moroccans received citizenship in an EU state.
The Moroccan government estimates the total number of Moroccans residing abroad, also known as MREs, at approximately five million, with the majority motivated by a need for employment.
Morocco’s Minister of Education Said Amzazi highlighted in 2019 that more than 600 engineers leave Morocco every year.
A survey by Moroccan marketing agency Sungeria found that four out of 10 Moroccans would leave Morocco if they were offered the opportunity.
The survey, which sampled 1,000 people, also found that women were more inclined toward emigration than men.”
Save the Children: Coronavirus Could Kill Millions in Sub-Saharan Africa
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/04/298229/save-the-children-coronavirus-could-kill-millions-in-sub-saharan-africa/
““If we act now and act decisively, we can prevent and contain the pandemic threat facing the poorest countries,” said Save the Children UK Chief Executive Kevin Watkins in a press release on March 27.
Researchers at London’s Imperial College have analyzed different responses to the COVID-19 crisis. The results of the study show that a delayed response to the pandemic “will cost at least three million lives” in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
Watkins warned that allowing the pandemic to rage on in Africa will “fuel the pandemic” in Europe, North Africa, and the Americas.
“This is not a crisis that respects borders,” he said.
The university’s researchers found health systems in sub-Saharan African countries do not have the capacity to meet a full-blown pandemic on the scale of the European crisis.
“Peak demand for critical care beds is 25 times higher than the available numbers of beds,” the Save the Children press release reported.
The statement called for international cooperation, saying “the window of opportunity for containing the crisis” in sub-Saharan countries is rapidly closing.
Save the Children emphasized that, before the spread of the pandemic, every year “Millions of children die as a result of the inability of their parents to get treatment for basic diseases like malaria, sepsis and diarrhoea.”
“Over 800,000 children die from pneumonia alone, many of them because there is no medical oxygen available,” the press release underlined.
In order to support health services already at a breaking point, the charity argues, countries across the globe need to unite to fight the spread of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa.
Save the Children called for “a single global plan to get support to the front-lines where it is desperately needed.”
The call to action involved global finance, prioritizing the safety of children, supporting education, and protecting vulnerable populations.
A growing number of cases in Africa
Save the Children’s call to arms comes as the number of cases in Africa reaches 5,413.
The African Union’s (AU) Center for Disease Control (CDC) released an infographic on March 31 showing the distribution of cases across the continent.
According to the CDC, North Africa has the highest number of confirmed novel coronavirus in Africa. The region has reported 2,185 cases. Egypt reports 656, while Algeria and Morocco report 582 and 574, respectively.
However, an announcement from the Moroccan Ministry of Health today, April 1, confirmed the number of cases in the kingdom has now risen to 638.
Tunisia has reported 362 cases and Libya, still in midst of a civil war, now has eight confirmed cases.
Southern Africa currently has 1,435 patients testing positive for the virus. South Africa has the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the region and the continent more widely, with 1,353 cases.
Western Africa continues to inch towards the thousand mark and has reported 980 confirmed cases. Burkina Faso currently faces the highest numbers of infection in the region with 246, while Cote d’Ivoire has reported 168 cases.
Nigeria now has 131 confirmed cases, prompting the government to implement a two-week lockdown affecting over 25 million people.
Eastern Africa currently has 460 confirmed cases, though numbers continue to increase rapidly. Central Africa has 353 cases with the majority in Cameroon (193) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (98).
On March 20, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said African governments must step up their responses to the growing pandemic.
“It is what is done at this point that will determine the numbers who will become very ill,” she warned. Preventing millions of deaths on the continent will require “coordination, a huge effort and huge resources,” Moeti added.
Meanwhile, Director General of WHO Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus urged African states to begin preparations immediately for a peak in cases.
“In other countries we have seen how the virus actually accelerates after a certain tipping point, so best advice for Africa is to prepare for the worst and prepare today,” he underlined.”
Nine Pakistanis arrested in Sri Lanka’s biggest drug haul
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2188942/1-nine-pakistanis-arrested-sri-lankas-biggest-drug-haul/
“Sri Lanka’s navy seized $65 million worth of crystal methamphetamine and ketamine in the country’s biggest drugs bust and arrested nine Pakistani men suspected of smuggling the drugs, officials said on Wednesday.
Acting on a tip-off, authorities raided a flagless vessel in the country’s southern waters. Navy personnel found 605 kilogrammes of crystal meth, also known as ice, and 579 kilogrammes of ketamine, said Navy Commander Piyal de Silva.
“This is the first time we have found ketamine and it is likely that the smugglers were trying to take this cargo to some East Asian destination,” de Silva told reporters in the capital Colombo. Authorities said initial investigations suggested the Iran-Pakistan coast was the point of origin.
Sri Lanka’s defence ministry said the drugs had an estimated street value in Colombo of about Rs12,500 million ($65 million), making it the country’s biggest single seizure of drugs. Last month, the navy seized two foreign trawlers, carrying more than $33 million worth of heroin and ice.”
A Deep Dive into the Coronavirus Crisis
Greece exploits coronavirus in refugee dispute with Turkey
https://www.dw.com/en/greece-exploits-coronavirus-in-refugee-dispute-with-turkey/a-52985947
“The pandemic is dictating Greek asylum policy. The coronavirus forced Turkish President Erdogan to cease blackmail attempts at the border with Greece — but it has afforded Athens the opportunity to push through plans.
In retrospect, it seems that residents of Greece’s eastern border regions were justifiably skeptical about the initial surge of displaced people arriving from Turkey. According to media reports, Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND, suspects that Turkey’s government brought displaced people en masse to the border and attempted to incite conflicts between refugees and officials in Greece — in fact, the buses used to remove refugees were the same ones that brought them there in the first place.
On Turkey’s border with Bulgaria, there was no activity at all. It would seem that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was only interested in agitating Greece, where he had hoped to escalate the already tense situation on the islands by inflaming nationalists.
Erdogan’s plan was to blackmail the European Union by showing just how broken its asylum policies truly are. He did so with the aim of forcing NATO partners to back him in his most recent military incursion into Syria. Media outlets from around the world offered him a stage. Tensions between the militaries of Turkey and Greece flared. But the novel coronavirus scuttled his plans. Once the world’s reporters left, Erdogan was forced into retreat. The virus, it seems, has solved the troubling situation at the border — at least for the moment.
‘Life is hard’
Official statistics put the number of refugees in Turkey at about 4 million, but it is estimated that there are far more. According to Athens, about 100,000 asylum applicants are currently in Greece, with 40,000 of them on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Leros and Kos. One of them is 20-year-old Somaya, from Afghanistan. She lives in a weatherproof shelter in the official Moria refugee camp — a luxury that few here have. “It is very cold right now,” Somaya said. “Life is hard. It has rained a lot.”
About 21,000 displaced people live in the ramshackle thicket of tents and cardboard known as the Jungle, which has sprouted up around the official Moria camp on Lesbos. Right now, many of them are worried about the coronavirus. “We have hardly any water, and refugees here have no idea what is going on,” Somaya said. “Do they run the risk of infection? I am worried.” But she also wants to help, so she volunteers for Team Humanity, a Danish aid group that distributes food and clothing to displaced people at the Hope & Peace Center near the camp. Face masks sewn at the camp are handed out at the center, as well as soap and hygiene instructions.
In March, Greece’s government issued a 12-point plan for dealing with the coronavirus in camps for displaced people. As a result, visits and activities within the camps have been canceled and residents can only move around the camps when absolutely necessary. Only one member of each family is allowed to shop outside the camps. Special police buses take them to prearranged shops. All camps are under a general curfew from 9 p.m. The new rules also ban refugees from withdrawing cash from ATMs in nearby villages. The government has said it will install ATMs at the camps, but there has been no word on exactly when that will happen.
Unclear rules
Representatives of Greece’s government refused to answer direct questions about hygiene measures, coronavirus testing and possible evacuation plans posed by DW. Instead, DW received a copy of the previously published 12-point plan.
Point No. 5 on the list warns people in the camp to abide by hygiene rules. Apostolos Veizeis, of the group Doctors Without Borders, wonders how they are supposed to do that. “The camps are all way over capacity,” he said. “The situation is ideal for the spread of COVID-19. Garbage hasn’t been picked up for months. More than 1,300 people have to share one water spigot. And most don’t even have access to water, electricity or toilets — instead they go to the bathroom outside.”
Veizeis said the government’s rules were hypocritical — put in place to reassure Greeks from the affected regions and discriminate against people stuck in the camps, leaving asylum applicants totally unprotected. He said older people and at-risk individuals would need to be evacuated from the camps immediately. There are only five intensive care beds on the whole island of Lesbos, he said, and just two on Samos. Greece’s Health Ministry has dispatched just three doctors to care for the Moria camp’s 20,000-plus inhabitants. That may seem bad enough, but the doctors also lack most medicine and equipment, too.
Greece’s government has instrumentalized the pandemic, Veizeis said. “If they come out and say now is the time to be careful and the best thing would be to move refugees to closed shelters,’ then they would just be trying once again to finally put that old idea into action,” he added.
Previous attempts to move displaced people to closed shelters have been met with outrage by rights organizations, the European Union and even residents of the affected regions. Thus, it appears that, at a time when Turkey’s government is hitting the brakes, Greece’s has decided to forge on ahead. So far, no coronavirus cases have been diagnosed within the camps for displaced people. But Veizeis remains concerned. “If the virus breaks out in one of the refugee camps,” he said, “it will be catastrophic.””
Tucker: As US loses jobs to COVID-19 crisis, government issues new work visas