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Lesbos: Who started the fire at Europe’s largest refugee camp?

Lesbos: Who started the fire at Europe’s largest refugee camp?

On 8 September 2020, the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos went up in flames. In an extended report, Â鶹ԼÅÄ Newsnight investigates the events surrounding the blaze.

More than 12,000 migrants, already living in dire conditions, were burned out of their tents after the fire devastated Europe's largest refugee camp, Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos.

The Greek authorities have blamed the blaze on a small number of residents of the camp, but among the refugees themselves many say local far-right activists started the fire.

On both sides there were people who wanted the camp gone. So what exactly happened and why?

With the help of a group of young refugee film-makers and exclusive access to a huge archive of footage from the fire and its aftermath, Newsnight’s International Editor Gabriel Gatehouse investigates the events surrounding the blaze and the roots of Europe's dysfunctional migration policy.

Filmed in collaboration with Refocusmedialab.

Camera, editor and producer: Jack Garland.

Release date:

Duration:

27 minutes