Yet tens of thousands of men, women and children fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands continue to risk their lives this winter to make the relatively short but dangerous journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, seeking a better future in Europe.
Boats carrying dozens of asylum-seekers reach the eastern Aegean island of Chios and the nearby deserted island of Pasas each night. Many land on rocky, inaccessible parts of the coast, forcing the new arrivals to scramble up steep inclines or cliffs, sometimes with the help of ropes.
Those who land on Pasas must wait until morning, warming themselves around fires, until the Greek coast guard can come to ferry them off to Chios and the migrant registration center.
There they go through a screening and fingerprinting process before being given registration documents and catching ferries or flights to the Greek mainland. Then the migrants continue their journey through the Balkans toward more prosperous European countries.
More than 850,000 people, most fleeing conflict in Syria and Afghanistan, entered Greece by sea in 2015, according to the UNHCR. Already in 2016, 35,455 people have arrived despite plunging winter temperatures and days of stormy weather.
(AP)
In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 photo, an Afghan boy asks for help to
climb a rock leading to the main road after arriving on a dinghy from
the Turkish coast to the Greek island of Chios. Despite the bitter
winter cold and rough seas, tens of thousands of men, women and children
fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands continue to risk their
lives to make the relatively short but dangerous journey from the
Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, seeking a better future in
Europe.
In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 photo, refugees and migrants who have
arrived from Turkey at the shore of the deserted Greek island of Pasas
wait for the Coast Guard to transport them to the nearby Oinousses
island.
In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 photo, newly arrived migrants and
refugees use ropes to scramble up a hill from a tiny beach on the
deserted Greek island of Pasas they were driven by a smuggler. The
smuggler ignored the searchlight, the shouts and the warning shots fired
by the Greek coast guard, deftly navigating his small white vessel the
shore
In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 photo, a Syrian woman with her children
takes a shelter in a iron box during a rainfall after they arrived from
Turkey to the Greek deserted island of Pasas near Chios on Wednesday,
Jan. 20, 2016 .
In this Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 photo, Afghan migrants look on a smart
phone inside the Souda camp as on the background is seen the stone wall
of the castle of Chios island.
In this Friday, Jan. 15, 2016 photo, refugees wait their turn at the
Tabakika registration center, Chios island, Greece. Despite the bitter
winter cold and rough seas, tens of thousands of men, women and children
fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands continue to risk their
lives to make the relatively short but dangerous journey from the
Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, seeking a better future in
Europe.
In this Friday, Jan. 15, 2016 photo, an Afghan man squats after his
arrival , from Turkey to the shores of the Greek island of Chios, on an
dinghy crammed with refugees and migrants.
In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 photo, refugees and migrants warm up
their selves above a makeshift fire after they arrived from Turkey to
the Greek deserted island of Pasas near Chios. More than 850,000 people
entered Greece by sea in 2015, according to the UNHCR.
In this early Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 photo, Afghan refugees disembark
from a dinghy after crossing a part of the Aegean sea from Turkish coast
to the Greek island of Chios.
In this Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 photo, a woman carries her young boy
inside the Souda camp for refugees and migrants in front of the stone
wall of the castle of Chios island , Greece . The 800-person camp placed
in the dry moat of Chios town’s medieval castle began operating in
early November 2015.
In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 photo, a Syrian man with one leg walks
at the Greek deserted island of Pasas after he arrived with others from
Turkey.
In this Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 photo, an Afghan couple use a blanket
to calm their baby inside the Souda camp in Chios island , Greece.
Despite the bitter winter cold and rough seas, tens of thousands of men,
women and children fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands
continue to risk their lives to make the relatively short but dangerous
journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, seeking a better
future in Europe.
In this Friday, Jan. 15, 2016 photo, two Afghan young women wait to be
registered in the Tabakika registration center Chios island , Greece.
Despite the bitter winter cold and rough seas, tens of thousands of men,
women and children fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands
continue to risk their lives to make the relatively short but dangerous
journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, seeking a better
future in Europe.