EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE/REFUGEE SHIP Thousands of refugees disembark in Greek port

Record ID: 143091

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE/REFUGEE SHIP Thousands of refugees disembark in Greek port
  • Date: 21st August 2015
  • Summary: PIRAEUS, GREECE (AUGUST 21, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SHIP CARRYING MIGRANTS APPROACHING PORT VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS ON DECK VARIOUS OF SHIP ARRIVING AT PORT/ GREEK POLICEMAN ARRIVING POLICEMAN AND COAST GUARD SHIP ANCHORED AT PORT VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS DISEMBARKING, MANY OF THEM WAVING HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) REFUGEE FROM AFGHANISTAN, NASHA AHMAD, AGED 16, SAYING: "Now I
  • Embargoed: 5th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4PJO2GN6DXOHMQILNTYDEX62Y
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Greece ferried hundreds of mainly Syrian refugees to its mainland on Friday (August 21) as it struggled to handle a growing influx pushing meagre resources to breaking point and turning its northern border into a tinderbox of crowds amassed for passage to north Europe.
    Just under 2,200 refugees arrived at the port city of Pireaus on Friday night on a car ferry chartered by the Greek government. It was the second shuttle in as many days as authorities attempted to ease overcrowded conditions on islands bordering Turkey and overwhelmed by arrivals in recent weeks.
    A 20-year-old Syrian girl from Aleppo described the situation on the northeastern island of Lesbos.
    "We were sleeping in the streets so it was really an awful experience. We didn't know that we would face such a situation here in Greece. And we ran from war and our country, so it felt that everything will be okay now that we are away, but we were really shocked when we were sleeping in the streets and no clean water and no safe place to stay and dogs everywhere. So it really was a hard situation," said the 20-year-old who did not wish to be identified.
    Buses were waiting on the quayside to ferry refugees, many of them families with young children, to train stations.
    Refugees have typically headed northwards by train or bus to the city of Thessaloniki, hoping for passage into Macedonia and from there to central Europe. Some 3,000 refugees had amassed at the border region on Friday, where Macedonian police teargassed hundreds attempting to cross earlier in the day.
    Greece, mired in its worst economic crisis in generations, has been found largely unprepared for a mass influx of refugees, mainly Syrians. Arrivals have exceeded 160,000 this year -- triple the arrivals of 2014.
    Arrivals have exposed massive shortages in Greece's available facilities to refugees, but also a striking discord in the European Union on handling the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
    "I don't know, I will go to Europe, so any country we don't have any war like this. It's safety. We go any country we can find safe for us and for our families. This is the only thing," 31-year-old Ghassan from Syria told Reuters TV.
    Those who do arrive on the Greek mainland get little guidance from Greek authorities. As part of the 'processing' process, refugees get a temporary resident permit which can range from 30 days to up to six months, which would allow them to apply for some form of civil protection status.
    The permit does not allow travel to other countries.
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