Migrants Recall Perilous Journey To Greece

A ferry carrying 2,500 migrants who arrived on Greek islands from the Turkish coast has docked in Greece's main port near Athens.

The government-chartered ferry served as registration centre on the eastern Aegean island of Kos earlier this week.

It left the island on Wednesday with 1,300 migrants.

Hundreds more were picked up on the way from the islands of Leros, Kalymnos and Lesbos.

The coast guard said it had also found 519 people in 16 search and rescue operations from Wednesday morning to Thursday morning off the coasts of Samos, Agathonissi, Kos and Farmakonissi.

One of those who stepped off the boat was Vian Baker, a 21-year-old student from Aleppo in Syria, who said she "faced death" on her family's 15-day journey to Greece.

She said: "We slept on the street. We didn't have blankets. We didn't have anything. Even water. I don't know what to tell you.

"We begged for water, we begged for food."

Hundreds of the migrants were later seen boarding buses heading to the city's train station. Many were believed to be heading to Athens and then to Thessaloniki.

Meanwhile, dinghies carrying migrants continue to arrive on Kos despite poor weather conditions.

A boat arrived overnight from the Turkish city of Bodrum carrying Syrians, Pakistanis and Africans, many of whom told of a dangerous journey on the rough sea.

Amir Mohammed fled from Syria and his job as a university lecturer because of his country's civil war.

He described a "really dangerous" journey that he was not sure he was going to survive.

He said: "The waves just started to be higher and higher and the boat was full of water.

"We tried to call the Turkish police and even the Greek police but no one answered the call.

"I tried to call my friend who is living in Germany to try to save this boat but they didn't help us so we had to go on.

"Thank God nothing happened but you know it was really dangerous."

Mr Mohammed added: "I know that sometimes Greek people are fed up with Syrian people who are coming from war because Kos island is a 'touristic' island but we have nothing to do but this because we are really in danger.

"We appreciate that they are accommodating us and helping us to cross to Europe."

An abandoned hotel close to the island's harbour has become an unofficial shelter for mainly Afghans, Pakistanis and Iraqis who turn up on the island each week.

Rooms that were once filled with tourists are now full of desperate families of up to 10 people, with no power and little running water.

Ershad Reaie, 22, from Herat in Afghanistan, said he has no final destination in mind as tries to make a new life for himself.

In broken English he said: "I left Afghanistan 68 days (ago).

"Tomorrow makes 22 days on Kos.

"I think all the time with this journey that I will make my death.

"Still I don't know where I am going, Germany, Sweden, England, maybe.

"We do not care about where we go in the end, only that we can work and be happy like other people in other countries."

The vast majority of the migrants do not want to remain in Greece, which has experienced high unemployment amid years of austerity.

Many head north to Greece's border with Macedonia and through the Balkans towards countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian nations.

Macedonia's government has declared a crisis situation in two border regions struggling to cope with the "unprecedented flow of refugees from the Middle East, pouring in through Greece".

The country's Interior Ministry spokesman, Ivo Kotevski, announced that security will be increased in Gevgelija and Kumanovo - areas in the south and north of Macedonia - allowing "for a more comprehensive approach towards the people who are expressing their interest in applying for asylum".

It is believed 44,000 people have crossed through Macedonia in the past two months, along what is being described as the "Balkan migration corridor".

Germany believes it could see as many as 800,000 migrants this year - four times the number faced last year.

It handles 43% of all asylum applications in the European Union.