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 Many of the Syrians made 'V' for victory signs as they disembarked
in the port city of Piraeus from the ship, chartered by the Greek
government to ease conditions on islands in the eastern Aegean,
where migrants are arriving on inflatable dinghies and small boats
from nearby Turkey.
Greece has been found largely unprepared to deal with the migrant
crisis in recent weeks, prompting criticism from aid agencies.
Arrivals in July totaled 50,000, far outstripping the figure for the
whole of 2014.
But many of the Syrians who arrived at Piraeus, which is part of the
sprawling Athens conurbation, said they had no intention of staying
in Greece as they flee their country's civil war. They plan instead
to head almost immediately to the country's northern border via the
second city of Thessaloniki, hoping to move on to other European
countries.
 "Which is the bus to Thessaloniki?" asked 28-year-old Jwan from the
Syrian city of Aleppo as he and hundreds of others milled on the
Piraeus quayside, before heading into central Athens. Trains and
buses depart from there to Thessaloniki, which lies close to the
Macedonian and Bulgarian borders.
Macedonia is already overwhelmed by migrants trying to get to
northern Europe where they hope to find more help, opportunities and
jobs.
Apart from buses on hand to take the refugees from the port to the
Piraeus metro station, nobody appeared to be available to offer
guidance on where to go.
The car ferry Eleftherios Venizelos departed Kos on Wednesday and
stopped at several other islands to pick up more Syrians on the
voyage to the mainland.
Jwan had traveled with his two sisters from Turkey to Lesbos. "We
don't want to stay in Greece, we want to go to Germany," he said.
TICKETS TO THESSALONIKI
Some of the refugees showed tickets for which they had paid 60 euros
($67) for a journey directly to Thessaloniki.
Greek officials had initially said the ship would head there and at
one point a bus company told Athens News Agency that it would take
the refugees from Thessaloniki to the Greek-Macedonian border town
of Idomeni.
But then the vessel abruptly changed course for Piraeus. It was
unclear why.
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Sneaking across into Macedonia by foot has become a popular route in
recent years for migrants to make their way to richer northern
European countries. However, any plan to dump refugees close to
another country's border could have left Greece open to criticism
that it was effectively shifting the problem on to its neighbors.
"First they told us the ship would go Thessaloniki, then Athens,"
said Darek Khouja, 18, also from Aleppo. "I want to go to Germany.
It has very good universities and I want to continue my studies, get
on with my life," Khouja said.
He and his friend Kamel Farezu, 20, both engineering students,
traveled together to Greece from Turkey. "The situation in Aleppo is
terrible, we had to leave," Khouja said. Both left their parents and
family behind.
The number of asylum-seekers and refugees to Germany will quadruple
to a record 800,000 this year compared with last, more than twice as
many as the 300,000 new arrivals forecast in January, the Berlin
government said on Wednesday.
Thousands of other migrants from Asia, Africa and elsewhere in the
Middle East are sleeping in abandoned buildings or in the open on
some Greek islands, particularly Kos.
Arrivals in Greece last week were equal to almost half the number
for all of 2014 and brings the total for this year to 160,000. This
has strained an ill-prepared reception system that relies heavily on
volunteers. The Syrians received priority in boarding the ferry as
they are regarded as refugees from their country's four-year-old
civil war.
Arrivals from other countries such as Iran, Afghanistan and
Pakistan, regarded as economic migrants, are camping out in filthy
conditions, leading to sporadic clashes and brawls.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas; editing by David Stamp)
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