Feature: a Syrian refugee's Odyssey

Having lost his father, wife and brothers, 35-year-old Yamin is one of the countless victims of the Syrian civil war. Now, he finally showed a glimpse of a smile under the bright Athenian sun: he and his three small children have received permission to settle in France to restart their life.

Yamin is one of the 66,400 refugees -- out of the more than one million who have landed on Greek shores since January 2015 -- to be relocated from Greece to other European Union (EU) member states, within the next two years, under a program launched in autumn 2015. So far only less than 1,000 people have reached their final destination through this way, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Most refugees have chosen another, faster, most perilous journey to central and western Europe, attempting to cross borders which are gradually closing, as asylum seekers who submit their applications in Greece have to wait on average two months before they move on.

For Yamin, there was no other option except for the relocation process.

With his wife killed, having had no assistance from other relatives to assist him during his Odyssey and his three children exhausted when they reached Lesvos island on a rubber boat in November 2015, he reached for the helping hand offered by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the Greek state and NGOs, he told Xinhua in a recent interview in Athens.

PRAKSIS, which means action in Greek, is the local NGO which in collaboration with UNHCR and the Greek state helped him and his family start rebuilding their new life in safety. Fae Drakopoulou, the project's manager, told Xinhua at PRAKSIS' headquarters in central Athens -- with Yamin standing by her side -- that since mid-November 2015 approximately 1,500 refugees have been accommodated in ten hotels in Athens while waiting for the approval of their asylum application.

Refugees like Yamin and his family, who are eligible for asylum, are referred to PRAKSIS by the UNHCR, who informs newcomers on their rights and the process at hotspots operating at the Aegean Sea islands. Priority is given to the most vulnerable populations, such as single parent families like Yamin's. Once they reach Piraeus port in the mainland they are transferred to their temporary shelter where for 40 euros per day for each person refugees get a clean, warm bed, and three meals daily. PRAKSIS' 360 employees and about 900 volunteers also provide medical aid, legal counseling and psychological services free of charge, Press Officer Chryssoula Patsou told Xinhua.

"But above all the people I now consider as members of my new family are always there, tireless and ready to embrace us with a warm smile and a kind word," Yamin said.

Despite his personal drama, he feels lucky he and his children are alive and safe today and prays for those left behind at his homeland, Damascus.

Yamin lived for two years in a bus with his children after the death of his wife, who was killed by a sniper in 2013. Returning to Damascus one day to check on their bombarded home and holding their youngest daughter, his wife was shot dead. She was 26 years old, and the daughter only 17 days old.

His sick mother and four brothers -- who have so far survived the war -- can't follow his footsteps. The roads have closed and they can't afford the journey he started last year. He also does not know which side is responsible for his suffering: he can't tell who were the men who slit his father's throat, amputated one of his brothers' hands or killed another of his brothers in a bomb attack last spring. He started his journey to Europe in August last year.

It was a rainy September day when Yamin made it across the Syrian-Turkish border among a group of about 50 people, after ten attempts in a month, numerous beatings by the Turkish military, and a 1,000-dollar payment to smugglers. They were immediately robbed by a group of armed men who made away with their passports, money and clothing. He again had no idea in which side they belonged.

The trip to Izmir in a truck lasted 20 hours. Nobody stopped them on the way to check their documents. No policeman approached them in the three months Yamin and his children stayed in the area until his aunt sent him 2,000 euros to continue to Greece.

They reached Lesvos in the fourth attempt, after paying 1,700 euros for the entire family. One time the boat's engine stopped, the other two the vessels capsized near the Turkish shores. "Traders" as they prefer to be called, Yamin said, returned his money each time until the successful final attempt.

Refugees were forced to board fully packed boats at gunpoint after spending the night by the sea. The day Yamin and his children crossed the Aegean Sea there were six to seven boats sailing nearby with a total of 300 people, he recalled.

The smuggler abandoned the boat just a few hundred meters from the Turkish shore and left them on their fate.

"I was scared. It was very dangerous. The waves were one meter high. I was praying for my children," Yamin said.

The trip lasted four hours. He remembered first the Turkish Coast Guard vessels sailing close, then Greek Coast Guard speedboats escorting them and finally the volunteers who rushed to help them onshore.

There were 48 adults and 20 children on that boat, and everybody made it safely to Lesvos. They were lucky, as hundreds have perished in the waters over the past year.

"That is why the relocation program should start from Turkey to avoid further deaths," Yamin stressed.

He remembered the Arabic-speaking girl who welcomed them on the beach and tried to comfort him, as he was crying for 20 minutes, hugging his children.

They stayed for nine days on the island, first in the Moria reception center and then a hotel at Mytilini port, before boarding the ship to Piraeus and starting the new chapter in their lives.

When asked whether he dreams about going back home, he responds their future now is in Europe. He believes Syria will be decomposed in several parts and he will have no home to return to.

He recalled the happy old days when the entire family gathered together once a week, talking and laughing.

"Our life was good. I was working as a mechanical engineer earning 10,000 dollars per year. We were not rich, but neither poor. We had our own houses and farmland outside Damascus. We would go on vacations. We were happy. That chapter is over," Yamin said, before saying goodbye to Fae and Chryssoula to start the new chapter in western Europe.

"I would love to stay in Greece, but the state is poor. They cannot help us more. But I will certainly come back to see my new sisters," he said. Enditem