EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE-PIRAEUS ARRIVAL Refugees cry for help as ship arrives at Greek port
Record ID:
140571
EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE-PIRAEUS ARRIVAL Refugees cry for help as ship arrives at Greek port
- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE-PIRAEUS ARRIVAL Refugees cry for help as ship arrives at Greek port
- Date: 1st September 2015
- Summary: PIRAEUS, GREECE (SEPTEMBER 1, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PASSENGER FERRY CARRYING REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS FROM GREEK ISLAND OF LESBOS ARRIVING AT PORT FERRY PREPARING TO DOCK AT PORT ELECTRONIC ANNOUNCEMENT BOARD ON SHIP READING (English): "WELCOME TO TERA JET, MYTILENE-PIRAEUS, DEPT: 12:00" FERRY DOCKING/COAST GUARD OFFICERS AT PIER FERRY'S GATE RAMP OPENING / HUNDREDS OF REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS WAITING ON LOWER DECK TO DISEMBARK COASTGUARD OFFICERS AT PORT LOOKING ON REFUGEES WAITING TO DISEMBARK VARIOUS OF REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS CHEERING AND FORMING VICTORY SIGN WITH THEIR HANDS AS THEY DISEMBARK FROM SHIP SMILING REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS WAVING TO THE CAMERA AS THEY DISEMBARK FROM SHIP AND HEAD TOWARDS BUSES (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM IDLIB, SYRIA, ISHAM, SAYING: "I want to say to Hungary why, why you want to stop the Syrians and the others? Why? We search about good life. We search about peace. We are all...we are human, we are human." PEOPLE DISEMBARKING FROM SHIP WOMAN FROM IRAQ SHOUTING IN ARABIC, CRITICISING FORMER IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NOURI AL-MALIKI (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM BAGHDAD, IRAQ, OSHAMA, SAYING: "I wish the the U.N. and other independent international organizations provide the help to these countries to support us." REFUGEES WAVING TO CAMERA AS THEY WALK TOWARDS BUSES / WOMAN CARRYING BABY IN HER ARMS (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM DAMASCUS, SYRIA, LINDA, SAYING: "When we registered (in Lesbos) they come to kick the woman with a electric stick. Okay? They say you are animals, we are shut up our mouth. They try to beat some man, okay?." VARIOUS OF REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS AT PORT WAITING TO BOARD BUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM SYRIA, UAL, SAYING: "Things got bad there (Syria) since four years ago maybe. The fanatic islamic fighters and terrorism...So, I just came here seeking a chance to a better life." FAMILY OF REFUGEES WALKING TOWARDS BUSES ELDERLY WOMAN WALKING THROUGH PORT BABY IN MOTHER'S ARMS FAMILY OF REFUGEES AT PORT / WOMAN WITH INFANT IN HER ARMS MAN WITH LITTLE GIRL SITTING ON HIS SHOULDERS PARENTS GIVING KISSES TO THEIR BABY WOMAN HOLDING SLEEPING BABY REFUGEE CARRYING LITTLE GIRL ON HIS SHOULDER'S LITTLE GIRL LOOKING ON BUS ARRIVING / REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS WALKING TOWARDS BUS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GETTING ON BUS YOUNG BOYS INSIDE BUS BUS LEAVING
- Embargoed: 16th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Greece
- Country: Greece
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACZUMVQDFX60UNRTVIJAI6A611
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Some 1,700 refugees and migrants onboard a passenger ship from the Greek island of Lesbos arrived in Piraeus, near Athens, on Tuesday (September 1).
'Tera Jet' is the second ship chartered by the Greek government to ease mounting pressure on Lesbos after local authorities said that about 12,000 refugees and migrants were stranded on the northeastern Aegean island.
Greece has seen a surge in the number of refugees arriving by rubber dinghies from neighboring Turkey, with aid agencies estimating about 2,000 crossing over daily this month. Most hail from conflict-ridden places such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The refugees seemed relieved as they disembarked from the ship but the relief soon turned to indignation and fear for the next leg of their long journey to northern Europe.
"I want to say to Hungary why, why you want to stop the Syrians and the others? Why? We search about good life. We search about peace. We are all...we are human, we are human," said 27-year-old Isham, a Syrian teacher who left his wife and two young children behind in Turkey.
Hungary has emerged as one of the main flashpoints of the crisis as the primary gateway for migrants travelling over land through the Balkans and into the EU.
Hundreds of angry migrants demonstrated outside Budapest's Eastern Railway Terminus on Tuesday demanding they be allowed to travel on to Germany.
Many of the refugees are demanding help from the United Nations and other governing bodies as they look to settle in Europe.
Oshama is from Iraq. He used to be a doctor before his house in Baghdad was burned to the ground and along with his seven member family was forced to flee their city. He hopes that he will manage to reach Germany and get a job there so that the rest of his family - still in Iraq - will be able to join him.
"I wish the the U.N. and other independent international organizations provide the help to these countries to support us," said 28 year-old Oshama.
Buses were waiting on the quayside to ferry the refugees to trains taking them to downtown Athens. From there the refugees typically headed northwards by train or bus to the city of Thessaloniki, hoping for passage into Macedonia and from there to central Europe.
Cash-strapped Greece, already crippled by economic crisis, has been struggling to cope with the influx of migrants, many of whom cross the narrow stretch of water from the Turkish mainland to Greek islands in inflatable boats.
Linda from Damascus said the conditions on the island of Lesbos were horrible and refugees and migrants were not treated well by authorities there.
"When we registered (in Lesbos) they come to kick the woman with a electric stick. Okay? They say you are animals, we are shut up our mouth. They try to beat some man, okay?" she said.
Greek president Prokopis Pavlopoulos told French counterpart Francois Hollande by telephone that migration should be addressed at a top European level, according to a statement by Pavlopoulos' office.
Nearly 300,000 men, women and children have crossed the Mediterranean this year, including nearly 181,500 in Greece and 108,500 in Italy, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
A surge in migrants fleeing war and poverty has presented Europe with its worst refugee crisis since World War Two and claimed the lives of thousands of people making perilous sea and land journeys to the continent.
"Things got bad there (Syria) since four years ago maybe. The fanatic islamic fighters and terrorism...So, I just came here seeking a chance to a better life," said another Syrian migrant, Ual.
This week the bodies of 71 refugees, including a baby girl, were found in Austria inside an abandoned freezer truck and more than a hundred dead migrants washed ashore in Libya after an overcrowded boat sank on its way to Europe.
On Saturday (August 29) three young children suffering from dehydration and close to death have been rescued from a van crammed with 26 refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Bangladesh the Austrian police said.
The UNHCR said more than 2,500 people have died making the sea crossing this year, compared with 3,500 who died or went missing in the Mediterranean in 2014. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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