KOS, Greece: A passenger ship housing Syrian refugees set sail from the Greek island of Kos for the Greek mainland yesterday amid confusion over its final destination and the fate of passengers on arrival.
On top of its economic crisis, cash-strapped Greece has been battling a huge influx in migrants arriving by boat from neighbouring Turkey in recent weeks. About 21,000 people landed on Greek shores last week alone, prompting Athens to appeal to the European Union for help.
Officials initially said the ship, which has acted as a floating accommodation and registration centre since Sunday, was heading for the northern port of Thessaloniki after picking up migrants from the islands of Leros, Kalymnos and Lesbos.
But the coast guard later said the ship laden with over 2,000 refugees was headed for the capital Athens, where it was expected to arrive today morning.
The decision to send the ship on to Athens capped a day of confusion over where the refugees would be accommodated or sent after reaching Thessaloniki before the abrupt change in final destination.
Authorities in Thessaloniki initially said they were taken by surprise to hear the ship would be heading their way.
Compounding the confusion, the head of a privately-owned bus operator told the Athens News Agency that about 10 buses would be waiting at Thessaloniki port to transfer refugees to the Greek-Macedonian border town of Idomeni.
Sneaking across into Macedonia by foot has become a popular route in recent years for refugees to illegally make their way into economically better off northern Europe.
The government has also come under fire from aid agencies and the opposition for not doing enough to defuse the migrant crisis. Stavros Theodorakis, leader of the centrist opposition party To Potami, wrote to the parliament speaker calling for an immediate debate in the assembly.
“Weaknesses in planning and coordination over immigration policy have created a situation of continuous emergency,” Theodorakis said. REUTERS
