I have visited the burnt-down remains of the camp in Moria, and I have visited the new camp. I remember very well what the old camp looked like, and the new camp is even worse. People have to stay in tents now, and these are not at all fit for winter.
There should not be a new camp at all. The refugees should be evacuated. The people here in Lesbos do not want a new camp. The refugees do not want to stay in Lesbos. And frankly, it does not make any sense to force so many people onto this island. It is so much easier to treat them properly on mainland Europe. We should bring them to other EU countries, where we have the space and the infrastructure to provide them with the safety that we all need.
We have to stop this system of camps. This can only be done if the dirty deal with Turkey is terminated and the Dublin system replaced by a model of fair distribution and relocation from day one.
Cornelia Ernst is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament from Germany. She is a member of The Left Party, part of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2009, prior to which she had been a member of the Parliament of Saxony from 1998
