Syrian migrants paddle their dinghy to the shores of the Greek island of Kos on August 17, 2015 after their small engine broke down as they motored across the sea from Turkey. Authorities on the island of Kos have been so overwhelmed that the government sent a ferry to serve as a temporary centre to issue travel documents to Syrian refugees -- among some 7,000 migrants stranded on the island of about 30,000 people. The early hours are the safest time for migrants travelling from Turkey to the Greek islands just across the water, which have seen a huge influx of refugees escaping the civil war in Syria and chaos in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year.
Stories from the front lines of the refugee crisis
Newsroom
Erin Schrode, who traveled to Greece to assist, speaks with CNN's Brooke Baldwin about the Syrian refugee crisis.
02:29 - Source: CNN
Migrant crisis 17 videos
Syrian migrants paddle their dinghy to the shores of the Greek island of Kos on August 17, 2015 after their small engine broke down as they motored across the sea from Turkey. Authorities on the island of Kos have been so overwhelmed that the government sent a ferry to serve as a temporary centre to issue travel documents to Syrian refugees -- among some 7,000 migrants stranded on the island of about 30,000 people. The early hours are the safest time for migrants travelling from Turkey to the Greek islands just across the water, which have seen a huge influx of refugees escaping the civil war in Syria and chaos in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year.
Stories from the front lines of the refugee crisis
02:29
Now playing
- Source: CNN
Photos from the Sarost 5, a ship currently stuck at sea with 40 migrants on board, including 2 pregnant women. According to the ship's second captain Amman Ourari, it has been refused entry by Malta, Italy, France and Tunisia. Photos are from the ship's second captain Amman Ourari.
Migrant ship stranded for two weeks at sea
00:50
Now playing
- Source: CNN
Rescue boat carrying migrants from off the coast of Libya.
The journey of a ship carrying 600 migrants
02:31
Now playing
- Source: CNN
Victory video 2
Migrant returns home to brutal reality
03:57
Now playing
- Source: CNN
A young boy wrapped in a blanket to protect him from the rain gestures as migrants and refugees protest to call for the opening of the borders near the village of Idomeni where thousands of refugees and migrants are stranded on March 7, 2016. EU leaders held a summit with Turkey's prime minister on March 7 in order to back closing the Balkans migrant route and urge Ankara to accept deportations of large numbers of economic migrants from overstretched Greece. / AFP / LOUISA GOULIAMAKI (Photo credit should read LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images)
A year in the life of migrants
01:47
Now playing
- Source: CNN
migrant boat fire
Dramatic escape as migrant boat catches fire
00:43
Now playing
- Source: CNN
mediterranean rescue effort
Massive rescue effort in the Mediterranean
00:49
Now playing
- Source: CNN
migrant boat lands on spanish beach
Migrant boat lands on Spanish beach
00:57
Now playing
- Source: CNN
A group of migrants off an incoming train walk down a platform as they are accompanied by the police at the Swedish end of the bridge between Sweden and Denmark near Malmoe on November 12, 2015. The Swedish government on November 11, 2015 said it would temporarily reinstate border checks to deal with an unprecedented influx of migrants, making it the latest country in Europe's passport-free Schengen zone to tighten its borders over the crisis. AFP PHOTO / TT NEWS AGENCY / STIG-AKE JONSSON +++ SWEDEN OUT +++ (Photo credit should read STIG-AKE JONSSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Sweden's refugees by the numbers
01:10
Now playing
- Source: CNN
Afghan migrant in Serbia 2
Migrants in Serbia: A grim life
01:41
Now playing
- Source: CNN
heroic crews rescue refugees at sea orig_00000206.jpg
Heroic crews rescue refugees lost at sea
03:29
Now playing
- Source: CNN
A protester holds up a Turkish flag as others raise their hands during a demonstration in Taksim square in Istanbul on June 8, 2013. Thousands of angry Turks took to the streets on June 8 to join mass anti-government protests, defying Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call to end the worst civil unrest of his decade-long rule. Erdogan, meanwhile, was meeting in Istanbul with top officials of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to discuss the crisis, and a deputy prime minister was due to make a speech later on June 8. AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)
Turkey: A country in turmoil
01:09
Now playing
- Source: CNN
A photo released by the Italian coast guard shows babies born in a migrant rescue ship off the Sicilian coast.
Migrant mothers give birth on Italian rescue ship
00:50
Now playing
- Source: CNN
Survivors from a boat that capsized, off Egypt's north coast, sit in a police station in Rashid in northern Egypt, on September 21, 2016. A boat carrying up to 450 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean off Egypt's north coast on, drowning 42 people and prompting a search operation that rescued 163 passengers, officials said. / AFP / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)
Migrant boat capsizes near Egypt
01:02
Now playing
- Source: CNN
In this Friday, May 20, 2016 image made from video a group of Cubans stand atop American Shoal Lighthouse off Sugarloaf Key in a standoff with Coast Guard, in the Florida Keys. The group of migrants who fled Cuba in a homemade boat and climbed onto the 136-year-old lighthouse off the Florida Keys should be allowed to stay in the U.S., according to a federal lawsuit filed on their behalf.
Cubans who climbed lighthouse to be sent home
00:46
Now playing
- Source: CNN
An Italian Navy ship spotted a boat with migrants off the Libyan coast and shortly after the migrant ship flipped for the precarious floating conditions given the hi number of migrants on board. Rescue operations are still ongoing also with the help of an helicopter and of a second Navy vessel. At the moment 500 people have been saved and seven are dead.
Ship flips, throws 500+ overboard
00:55
Now playing
- Source: CNN
German Navy sailors surround a boat with more than 100 migrants near the German combat supply ship 'Frankfurt am Main' during EUNAVFOR Med, also known as Operation Sophia, in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, Tuesday, March 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
ISIS infiltrates the migrant route in Libya
01:48
Now playing
- Source: CNN