Greece: Evros wildfire dead are victims of ‘two great injustices of our times’
Amnesty InternationalAug 24, 2023
On Tuesday, Greek officials announced that in the Evros region of the country — where wildfires are burning out of control — the bodies of 18 people have been found. The victims are believed to be asylum seekers.
Firefighters have worked for over a week to extinguish the blaze that now threatens the northwest areas of Athens. Their efforts to slow the spread have been delayed due to weather conditions. The victims were found by the fire service near Avantas.
This shows a two-fold challenge. These asylum seekers are staring down climate change, which is worsening conditions and governments are doing absolutely nothing about it. Those only seeking a better life are also facing a lack of legal and safe routes to escape poverty and violence. If they are lucky enough to escape they enter countries like Greece they face being returned or deported back into danger.
Anti-migration rhetoric by the Greek government is resulting in very real danger for migrants. Videos have surfaced of anti-migrant organizations making "citizen arrests" of migrants in the areas of the infernos and being blamed for setting Greece on fire. While those individuals have been arrested, these types of xenophobic incidents are a result of reckless rhetoric out of Athens.
There is a 50% chance that wildfires will destroy a total exceeding 10Mha of global tree cover in any year, by the end of 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.