A GREEK court refused to allow independent legal observers and journalists to attend the trial of four Afghan teenagers today accused of burning down an overcrowded refugee camp last year.

The infamous Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Chios burnt down last September, leaving about 12,000 people without help from the authorities for days until a new camp was built on what was later revealed to be a former military weapons testing ground.

Six teenagers have since been accused of starting the fire, but 70 refugee support groups signed an open letter last week warning that the teenagers’ right to a fair trial was at risk and that they were to be made scapegoats for the EU’s inhumane migration policy.