Some 2,000 refugees, mostly from Syria, arrived at the Greek port of Piraeus near Athens on Sunday morning, Euronews reported.

They arrived on a government-supplied ferry that brought them from the Greek island of Lesbos.

Greece is a major entry point for migrants, especially those fleeing the conflict in Syria and Iraq looking for security and a better life in Europe.

The International Organisation for Migration says over 46,000 migrants arrived in Greece in the first five months of this compared to 34,000 for the whole of 2014.

Given the problems of its own that Greece is facing, most migrants attempt to move on to other more prosperous European countries.