Around 11:00 am on Monday morning, August 24, Greek ferry “Eleftherios Venizelos” arrived at the port of Piraeus carrying some 2,500 people, mostly Syrian nationals from the Greek island of Lesvos, where the situation has gotten out of control.
Adult migrants got a 50-euro ticket and children a 25-euro ticket in order to travel to Athens. Upon their arrival at the port of Piraeus they stressed to local media that they never meant to cause problems to Greek people, while they admitted that the situation has gotten out of hand.
Overall, there are around 9,500 migrants and refugees located on the Greek island of Lesvos, mostly Syrians, while boats arrive on the island every day, carrying more people from the Turkish coast.
Since last Thursday, “Eleftherios Venizelos” has transferred around 9,000 migrants and refugees to the port of Piraeus from various Aegean islands where the situation is suffocating, such as Kos, Kalymnos, Leros and Lesvos. However, they did not stay in the Greek capital but opted to continue their long journey, traveling by bus or train to Thessaloniki and Idomeni, northern Greece, in order to enter FYROM and travel to another European country. According to their statements, they show a strong preference to Germany, Sweden and Norway.
According to Greek newspaper “Proto Thema,” most of the refugees and migrants had to stay in Turkey for months before being able to travel to Greece, while several stated that traffickers tricked them and disappeared, taking all their money.
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