A Honduran judge on Sunday ordered a hearing for five Syrians who arrived in the country after a five-country odyssey, AFP reported.

Honduras say the men were arrested on November 17 with stolen Greek passports.

Their original stated destination was the United States. After leaving Syria, they made stops in Lebanon, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina and Costa Rica.

Their ages range from 21 to 30. One says he is a university professor, and the rest assert they are students.

Officials with the immigration department questioned them and concluded they were, in fact, just fleeing from their country’s war and not Islamist extremists.

Tuesday’s hearing with prosecutors and defense attorneys will determine whether the men should be released and, if so, what their status will be, said Interior Ministry spokesman Yuri Mora.

The men are now being held in a prison in El Porvenir, 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the capital Tegucigalpa.

Human rights groups offering legal assistance to the men say they have asked for asylum. They originally said they wanted to make it to the United States overland.

The men were detained at the capital’s airport after security was tightened in the wake of the Paris terror attacks of November 13. A Syrian passport found by police at the scene of the mass shooting at the Bataclan concert hall belonged to an asylum seeker who registered as a “refugee” on a Greek island in October.

Honduras is a major conduit for Africans and people of other countries trying to make their way to the United States.

This year, 12,600 foreigners were caught entering Honduras illegally, almost all of them with the aim of getting to the United States.

AFP contributed to this report.