Third countries nationals, mostly refugees from Syria, as well as irregular migrants that recently sneaked into Greece on the heels of the ongoing Mideast refugee crisis, are increasingly using a railway connection to travel further north.

Proto Thema was at the Larissis train station in downtown Athens on Friday, where reporters spoke to several people who identified themselves as Syrian nationals.

All said that their goal is the city of Thessaloniki in the north, with further travel through numerous SE European countries until they reach Germany, the first choice of most people queried.

All of the third party nationals, including minors, that claim refugee status are provided with a temporary one-month residence permit by the Greek state. Most arrived in Athens by ferry boat from several eastern Aegean island, like Lesvos (Lesbos) and Kos, after having paying smugglers to ferry them across from the opposite Turkish coast.

Official Turkey has mostly turned a “blind eye” to the people-trafficking “business” blossoming along its western Asia Minor shores.
“We didn’t arrive here to stay in Greece. We know we cannot stay. We want to go to other countries in Europe, particularly Germany. Unfortunately, this isn’t easy because we have small children with us,” one man said.

According to UNHCR, in the first half of 2015 some 48,000 people it identified as refugees landed on Greece’s islands.