Five arrested over Lesbos refugee camp blaze

Greek police say they've arrested five migrants over the blaze that razed a major refugee camp on the island of Lesbos to the ground last week.

Authorities say they are searching for one more person, and believe the fire was deliberately lit by camp occupants after quarantine measures were imposed following the discovery of coronavirus cases on the site.

The incident has put the migrant issue firmly back on the European agenda.

On Tuesday (September 15), Germany said it wanted to take in about 1,500 migrants in a gesture of solidarity - out of the 12,000 there.

But a broader European solution has proved elusive for years, despite repeated appeals by countries like Greece and Italy.

Thousands of the migrants left stranded by the blaze have refused to move to a new facility and demanded to leave the island instead.

Locals are also feeling fed up with the strain of the crisis.

Some feel they have been abandoned by both the government in Athens and Greece's European partners.

Tensions have been high here for years, and protests by both locals and refugees have occasionally turned violent.

"The picture is really terrible, things are getting worse, and if they finish the camp, and time passes, they will burn it again. These people want to leave, they should put them in boats and take them where they wish to go. Why do they keep them here, the longer they stay they feel like they are like prisoners, why don't they let them leave?"

Migrants have said they want other European Union states to take them in.

That's something they have in common with some of Lesbos' crisis-weary residents, who say that the island cannot take the burden much longer.