A local man helps a Syrian refugee who jumped from a dinghy as he swims exhausted at a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos September 17, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A luxury yacht speeds by as Iranian migrants paddle an engineless dinghy trying to cross a part of the Aegean sea from the Turkish coast (seen in the background) to the Greek island of Kos August 15, 2015. Reuters photographer Yannis Behrakis: “It was a typical summer morning in Kos. Using my binoculars I spotted a small dinghy carrying six to eight people. A luxury yacht passed close by and the occupants of the dinghy started paddling frantically in case the captain of the yacht didn’t see them. I noticed a woman and a baby onboard. The sea was calm with no wind and they all wore life jackets. They reached the shore exhausted and one man, who later proved to be the father, carried the baby on to the beach. They all collapsed on the beach, some of them crying. Staff from a nearby luxury resort offered them water and food. A little later a tourist walked by. It was a surreal scene. The Iranians thanked the onlookers and walked towards the town”. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A tourist walks past an Iranian migrant who collapsed next to his son and wife moments after a small group arrived by engineless dinghy from the Turkish coast (seen in the background) at a beach on the Greek island of Kos August 15, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Pakistani migrants row their engineless dinghy, which was drifting out of control, in rough seas between Greece and Turkey, early May 30, 2015. Ahmad, one of the migrants onboard the dinghy, said that they have been rowing for over five hours before reaching a beach in central Kos town. The number of refugees and migrants landing in Europe by sea crossing could reach 1 million this year, the U.N. says. Half of those arriving are Syrians fleeing war. Reuters Photographer Yannis Behrakis has documented migrants young and old arriving on the beaches of the Greek islands of Kos and Lesbos and as they travel overland through Greece, a stepping stone on their journey towards northern Europe. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A Syrian refugee holds onto his children as he struggles to get off a dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Lesbos September 24, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





An Afghan migrant jumps off an overcrowded raft onto a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos October 19, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





An Afghan migrant covered by a foil blanket walks after arriving on the beach by raft during a rainstorm on the Greek island of Lesbos October 24, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A dinghy overcrowded with migrants and refugees approaches the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast September 20, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A dolphin jumps in front of a raft carrying Syrian refugees while crossing part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey (seen in the background) to the Greek island of Lesbos October 21, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Afghan migrant family members embrace each other upon arriving at a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast on an overcrowded raft October 20, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Syrian refugees carry their children as they jump off a dinghy crowded with Syrian refugees upon arriving on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean sea from Turkey, August 9, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Syrian refugees take "selfies" moments after arriving by dinghy on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean sea from Turkey, August 9, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Amoun, 70, a blind Palestinian refugee who lived in the town of Aleppo in Syria, rests on a beach moments after arriving by dinghy on the Greek island of Kos, crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece, August 12, 2015. Reuters photographer Yannis Behrakis: “I was on a beach in Kos waiting for rafts containing refugees and migrants to arrive. When this raft arrived I took some pictures and gave the people directions to the police station to register, reassuring them, as my colleagues and I did again and again, that nobody was going to harm them. Then I saw an older lady sitting on the beach looking very comfortable with the flicker of a smile on her face. She looked very calm. I stayed a few metres away and shot some frames as the morning sun gently illuminated her face. I was stunned by the tranquility of the scene and by her presence. I decided to approach and offer her a small sweet, a traditional gesture of Greek hospitality. I also wanted to ask her a few questions and solve the mystery that seemed to surround her. I kneeled in front of her and offered the sweet, saying good morning in Arabic. She seemed lost but her gentle face still had a beautiful smile. She reached with her hand upwards and then I realised she was blind. I was overwhelmed by strong emotions. We exchanged some pleasantries in English and Arabic and then she took the sweet, gave me a warm handshake with both her hands and thanked me with that divine smile. Her family was watching, some smiling, some with tears of joy running down their faces. This must have been one of my best mornings of the year”. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Life jackets and tubes left by migrants float by a beach during a rainstorm on the Greek island of Lesbos October 21, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A Syrian refugee family arrives by boat at a beach in front of a tavern on the Greek island of Kos, August 11, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Migrants and refugees beg Macedonian soldiers to allow them passage to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia during a rainstorm, near the Greek village of Idomeni, September 10, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A Syrian refugee rests after arriving on a beach during a rainstorm on the Greek island of Lesbos October 22, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Afghan migrants land at a beach on the Greek island of Kos after crossing a portion of the south-eastern Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece on a dinghy early May 27, 2015. Despite the bad weather the dinghy with over thirty migrants made the dangerous voyage to Greece. The number of refugees and migrants landing in Europe by sea crossing could reach 1 million this year, the U.N. says. Half of those arriving are Syrians fleeing war. Reuters Photographer Yannis Behrakis has documented migrants young and old arriving on the beaches of the Greek islands of Kos and Lesbos and as they travel overland through Greece, a stepping stone on their journey towards northern Europe. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Kurdish Syrian refugee Sahin Serko cries next to his seven-year-old daughter Ariana minutes after crossing the border into Macedonia along with another 45 Syrian refugees, near the Greek village of Idomeni in Kilkis prefecture May 14, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A Syrian refugee kisses his daughter as he walks through a rainstorm towards Greece's border with Macedonia, near the Greek village of Idomeni, September 10, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A migrant lies unconscious on the ground as others tried to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the Greek village of Idomeni November 26, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A group of Syrian migrants hide as a Greek police patrol van drives on the asphalt road next to them near the border with Macedonia in Kilkis prefecture, Greece May 14, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Two Syrian refugee students dry their documents on a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos October 19, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





An Afghan migrant, followed by her child, walks through a field close to the Greek-Macedonian border in an attempt to flee to Macedonia from the border village of Idomeni, Greece May 13, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Stranded Iranian migrant Hamid, 34, an electrical engineer from the town of Sanandij, sits on rail tracks in front of Macedonian riot police guarding the border between Greece and Macedonia near the Greek village of Idomeni November 23, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A doll, placed by stranded Iranian migrants, hangs from barbed wire in front of Macedonian police at the Greek-Macedonian border near to the Greek village of Idomeni November 29, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Stranded Iranian migrants who are on hunger strike, some with their lips sewn together, sit on rail tracks at the borderline between Greece and Macedonia near the Greek village of Idomeni November 25, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A dinghy overcrowded with Syrian refugees drifts in the Aegean sea between Turkey and Greece after its motor broke down off the Greek island of Kos, August 11, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A Syrian refugee child cries as she is squeezed by other refugees and migrants trying to move ahead at Greece's border with Macedonia near the village of Idomeni early morning September 7, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A Syrian refugee baby sleeps in a box at Greece's border with Macedonia near the village of Idomeni early morning September 7, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





An Afghan migrant sits inside a wood factory across the street from the ferry terminal in the western Greek town of Patras April 28, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





Syrian men form a safety passage for women following clashes during a registration procedure in the national stadium of the Greek island of Kos August 11, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





An Afghan migrant is seen through a bus window following his arrival by passenger ferry with over 2,500 migrants and refugees from the island of Lesbos, at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, October 8, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A Syrian refugee tries to keep his children warm after being rescued by Greek fishermen on the Greek island of Lesbos October 19, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





An African migrant tries to jump a fence into a ferry terminal in the western Greek town of Patras April 28, 2015. Afghan, Iranian and Sudanese migrants, living precariously in abandoned factories in Patras, southwest Greece, try to stow away on nearby ferries to Italy as they seek a better life in Europe beyond crisis-hit Greece. The number of refugees and migrants landing in Europe by sea crossing could reach 1 million this year, the U.N. says. Half of those arriving are Syrians fleeing war. Reuters Photographer Yannis Behrakis has documented migrants young and old arriving on the beaches of the Greek islands of Kos and Lesbos and as they travel overland through Greece, a stepping stone on their journey towards northern Europe. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A Syrian refugee holding a baby in a lifetube swims towards the shore after their dinghy deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos, September 12, 2015. (Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)





Syrian refugees sit behind barbed wire as they wait to cross into Macedonia at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the village of Idomeni, August 21, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)





A mounted policeman leads a group of migrants near Dobova, Slovenia October 20, 2015. (Photo by Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters)