A father stands with his daughter who is wrapped in a thermal blanket at a port on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing from Turkey
Greece authorities said 6,000 ‘refugees’ in three days had arrived on Lesbos seeking asylum, despite the bad weather. Shivering in the bitter wind, their lips blue with cold, they were pictured arriving on the shore after being rescued from the sea.
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Wintry conditions mean the journey in battered wooden boats and rubber dinghies is even more treacherous than usual and at least 100 have died this year.
But even as maritime patrols rescue hundreds from the Aegean, thousands more continue putting their lives in the hands of smugglers promising to carry them from Turkey.
New arrivals on a flimsy rubber craft wept with relief yesterday as they were helped ashore by a human chain of volunteers. Some were suffering hypothermia and had to be carried away on stretchers.
Others shivered in survival blankets and clutched bottled water in shaking hands. Young children, clearly bewildered, and babies dwarfed by adult-sized life jackets were among the latest arrivals.
The Hellenic Coast Guard said 2,090 had arrived on Lesbos in the past 24 hours.
A man holds his baby in a life jacket upon their arrival with other migrants on the island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean from Turkey
A volunteer hugs a woman after refugees arrive on a beach after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey to the island of Lesbos on a dingy
A child wrapped in a blanket sits with other migrants upon their arrival to the port of the northern island of Lesbos in Mytilene
A refugee rescued by the coastguard is pictured wrapped in a blanket as she disembarks from a ship in Mytilene on the island of Lesbos
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A man touches the face of a relative suffering from hypothermia as he is carried by Greek paramedics upon their arrival on Lesbos
A woman suffering from hypothermia rests after arriving with other migrants on a dingy from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos
A father keeps his daughter warm with a blanket upon their arrival with other refugees and migrants in Mytilene on February 19
A coastguard carries a small child covered with a blanket as refugees disembark from a Greek patrol boat at the port of Mytilene
Migrants rescued by the Greek coast guard disembark from a ship upon their arrival in Mytilene on the northern island of Lesbos
Refugees and migrants rescued by the Greek coast guard disembark from a ship upon their arrival on the northern island of Lesbos
A girl wearing Minnie Mouse trousers and an item of clothing on her head gets off the Greek coastguard ship at the port of Mytilene
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A woman wrapped in a thick grey blanket holds her tiny baby in her arms after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on February 19
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