On the island of Patmos, while waiting for the ferry to take us back to Athens, a small ferry arrived to the port and unloaded about more than 100 refugees from Syria and Iraq. I approached them and started some conversation with them. Some knew a little English enough for me to know more about their situation.
They just came from the Greek island of Kos, which is very close to Turkey. Some confided with me they had to pay USD 1,000 each to the "gangsters" (consisted of Turks *& Greeks) for them to sneak them illegally at night on rubber dinghies and traveled for 1.5 hrs from the port of Izmir, Turkey to Kos island. From Kos, they bought ferry tickets to Patmos (1.5 hrs) then Athens (9hrs).
They all agreed their final destination in Europe is Germany (their "Promised Land") where they hope they will have a better future.
