Human Rights Watch calls Camp Moria an ‘open-air prison’
Next Sunday, tents will be placed on the Grote Markt in Groningen to draw attention to the situation of children at the Greek refugee camp Moria. The protest will be part of a unified European movement, hoping to bring attention to ultra-wealthy countries’ refusal to help the camps inhabitants.
Groningen will take part in a so-called 24-hour event, which hopes to draw attention to migration policy in Europe. The Groningen campaign is in the hands of the Groningen Refugee Committee.
A number of tents will be placed on the Grote Markt on Sunday at 13:00 as a symbol of the thousands of people stuck in limbo in the camp. There will be a kick-off event with speakers, music and images, and the Grote Markt will then be a setting where refugees and citizens can share their stories.
Naturally, Coronavirus measures are to be observed during the event, and the protest can also be followed online via a livestream on social media channels.
Groningen has previously turned out to protest against the treatment of the people at Moria, with Mayor Koen Schuiling (VVD) of the municipality of Groningen calling for 500 children from the camp to be brought to the Netherlands (estimates vary between there being about 6,000 and 8,000 unaccompanied children at the camp). More than six months later, however, little has changed, with the central Dutch government led by Mark Rutte turning a blind eye to the children at the camp.
Image: Kelsey Vere via Pixabay
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