| 1 | Migrants from the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, make their way to the Greek island of Kos, on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015. |
| 2 | With the shores of Kos, a gateway to Europe, just a few kilometers (miles) away from Bodrum, hundreds of migrants are piling into tiny inflatable dinghies each night and attempting to make the crossing powered by tiny outboard motors and plastic paddles. |
| 3 | Migrants on a Turkish beach scuffled over places on one inflatable dinghy and frantically bailed out another to keep it from sinking during a dramatic night that highlighted their desperation to reach the Greek island of Kos - and the safety of Europe. |
| 4 | The scenes of human trafficking, captured early Saturday by Associated Press journalists on a moonless night, came as Turkish authorities reported that 2,791 migrants have been caught in the Aegean Sea in the past 5 days alone, most of them Syrians. |
| 5 | Overall, more than 33,000 migrants have been caught or rescued in the Aegean this year, according to the governor's office in Izmir. |
| 6 | Kos is only 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from Turkey at its closest point, its twinkling lights at night an irresistible beacon to those fleeing war or poverty. |
| 7 | Tensions were high early Saturday at Fenerburnu Beach near the Turkish tourist town of Bodrum. |
| 8 | Two migrants tried to clamber onto a small dinghy only to be forced off by angry fellow passengers, one of whom shouted: "You haven't paid!" |
| 9 | One passenger was also upset that the male intruders had touched the arm of a female migrant wearing an Islamic headscarf. |
| 10 | The two ejected migrants fled up the beach and into the bushes just as a Turkish military police vehicle, its siren wailing, approached. |
| 11 | Earlier, in the darkness well away from the shore, two migrant smuggling boats appeared to be intercepted by another vessel and their passengers taken into custody. |
| 12 | It was not immediately clear if Greek authorities were once again intercepting migrants at sea. |
| 13 | Later in the night, another inflatable dinghy setting off from the beach appeared close to sinking under the weight of its human cargo, which included at least one of the men forced off the earlier vessel. |
| 14 | Three women jumped out and ran away shouting "No, no, no!," clearly terrified at the prospect of making even the short crossing to Kos in the flimsy boat. |
| 15 | Their panic spread to other passengers, leaving just four men to bail out the water using only plastic paddles. |
| 16 | Then, using a tiny electric motor, they steered the boat toward the lights of Kos. |
| 17 | As the dinghy gathered speed, three men who had earlier abandoned ship waded through the warm water to clamber back on board. |
| 18 | Asked if they had anything to say as they faded into the night, one man replied: "May God help us." |
| 19 | Issa Jaefer, a Syrian waiting in Bodrum to make the crossing to Kos, said the migrants are aware of the dangers. |
| 20 | "We were left to die in Syria," he said earlier in the week. |
| 21 | "It doesn't matter if we die on the rough sea. At the end, by God's providence, we will reach the stability and security in Europe." |
| 22 | The number of migrants trying to reach Europe by sea is on track to hit a record this year, according to the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration. |
| 23 | Financially struggling Greece has reported 134,988 arrivals from Turkey this year, it said, while Italy recorded 93,540 newcomers through July. |
| 24 | Along with migrants landing in Spain and Malta, 237,000 people have made the crossing so far this year, the agency says - compared to 219,000 for all of 2014. |
| 25 | It also estimated at least 2,300 people have died this year trying to make the crossing. |
| 26 | Migrants speak to each other as they and others gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at an abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, on the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 27 | On Friday, the International Organization for Migration said the number of migrants and asylum-seekers who have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year will pass the quarter-million mark by the end of the month - more than half of them arriving in Greece. |
| 28 | A woman with her child rests at a tent camp as other migrants gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 29 | A man holds his son as other migrants and refugees gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 30 | Migrants and refugees gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 31 | Migrants and refugees argue with a local official as they gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 32 | A police officer, top, tries to line-up migrants and refugees as they gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 33 | Police officers try to line-up migrants and refugees as they gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 34 | Migrants and refugees arrive on a dinghy after crossing from Turkey, on the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, early Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 35 | The International Organization for Migration said the number of migrants and asylum-seekers who have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year will pass the quarter-million mark by the end of the month, more than half of them arriving in Greece. |
| 36 | Migrants and refugees pose for a photo upon their arrive at the coast on a dinghy after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece during the sunrise, early, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 37 | A man prays after he and other migrants arrived on a dinghy after crossing from Turkey, on the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, early Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 38 | Migrants and refugees walk to board on an Athens-bound ferry at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 39 | Late Friday, about 1,900 Syrians, clasping their papers in their hands, queued patiently in a fenced-off part of Kos harbor to get on an Athens-bound ferry - once all other passengers had boarded. |
| 40 | A woman makes a selfie was she and migrants and refugees wait to board on an Athens-bound ferry at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, to leave by sea for the Greek capital. |
| 41 | Migrants and refugees rest at a tent camp as they gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. |
| 42 | Turkish authorities reported that 2,791 migrants have been caught in the Aegean Sea in the past 5 days alone, most of them Syrians. |
| 43 | Migrants from the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, disembark their boat after it started to sink as they attempted to make their way to the Greek island of Kos, on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015. |
| 44 | A yacht sails past migrants from the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, heading to the Greek island of Kos, on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015. |