At Greek port, migrants dream and despair in abandoned factories

Afghan immigrants walk through the ferry terminal at the western Greek town of Patras April 28, 2015. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

PATRAS, Greece (Reuters) - Rapper Mahdi Babika Mohamed's journey to a better life in Europe started in his native Sudan and passed through Libya and Turkey before abruptly ending in a squalid abandoned factory at Greece's western port of Patras.

There, the 37-year-old is one of hundreds of migrants making desperate attempts to board ferries to Italy by hanging on to the underside of cargo trucks - usually unsuccessfully.