Human Rights Watch and similar groups urged Greece on Wednesday to detail the risks of lead poisoning at a migrant camp on Lesbos island and take immediate steps to mitigate them, including evacuating residents.

The Greek ministry of migration and asylum announced Saturday the start of an investigation involving EU experts who will analyse the soil at Mavrovounio camp where migrants are being housed temporarily after a fire destroyed the Moria camp last September.

The ministry took the decision after one of a dozen soil samples showed that an inhabited part of the camp has "a concentration of lead higher than international norms," it said.

Human Rights Watch accused the Greek government of failing to be transparent and act quickly to determine the risks for thousands of migrants and workers there despite weeks of pressure.

"The Greek government knowingly built a migrant camp on a firing range and then turned a blind eye to the potential health risks for residents and workers there," charged Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The Greek ministry said the former firing range accounts for only 21,000 square metres (some 225,000 square feet) of the camp's total 341,000 square metres.

"After weeks of prodding, it took soil samples to test for lead contamination while denying that a risk of lead exposure existed," Wille said in a statement.

"It did not make the results public for over seven weeks, and has yet to allow independent experts to analyze them or vow to take the necessary steps to protect residents and workers and inform them about the potential health risks."

Apart from HRW, ActionAid-Greece, HumanRights360, Refugee Rights Europe (RRE) and the Greek Refugee Council as well as other activist groups endorsed the appeal for greater transparency and quicker action.

The groups called for the immediate evacuation of the camp and the transfer of asylum seekers to proper facilities.

The ministry said adequate steps have been taken to ensure the camp was safe since it was set up in September.

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