EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE-REFUGEE SHIP Syrian refugees on Greek island board ship for processing

Record ID: 143751

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE-REFUGEE SHIP Syrian refugees on Greek island board ship for processing
  • Date: 16th August 2015
  • Summary: KOS, GREECE (AUGUST 16, 2015) (REUTERS) LINE OF SYRIAN REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES QUEUING IN FRONT OF PORT GATE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BEHIND A FENCE VARIOUS OF PORT OFFICIAL TALKING TO REFUGEES ELDERLY MAN BEHIND THE FENCE VARIOUS OF GROUP OF NON SYRIAN MIGRANTS CHANTING IN FRONT OF THE PORT GATE UNHCR WORKERS SYRIAN REFUGEES SHOWING THEIR PASSPORTS FIRST GROUP
  • Embargoed: 31st August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3XFHNGQ9UHPSQJT7TB69N3C3X
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A group of Syrian refugees boarded a ship on the Greek island of Kos on Saturday (August 17) night, where they will be accommodated and their applications for asylum processed.
    The Eleftherios Venizelos ship docked in Kos on Friday (August 15), and is intended to ease the pressure on the island which has found itself on the front line of the migrant crisis as people arrive in rubber dinghies at the rate of hundreds a day.
    The huge passenger ship is ordinarily a car ferry which operates routes between the Greek islands and across the adriatic to Italy.
    The greek government chartered the vessel so that Syrian refugees could be housed and processed there.
    "We are waiting for the personal papers to leave Greece," said refugee Aimat Osman, as he waited in line to be processed.
    Authorities said people fleeing Syria's civil war would be treated as refugees but those of other nationalities, including Africans, Iraqis, Pakistanis and many others, were considered migrants.
    Many of those arriving in Italy and Greece are intent on reaching northern Europe, and the priority of the authorities on Kos -- which lies within site of mainland Turkey -- is to move them to other parts of Greece.
    On Tuesday (August 11), local police used fire extinguishers and batons against migrants after violence broke out in a sports stadium where hundreds of people, including young children, were waiting for immigration papers. About 40 riot police were subsequently sent to the island to keep order.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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