Hundreds of thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East continue to make their way to Europe, fleeing poverty, war, and chaos in their home countries. More than 3,000 are known to have died on the journey across the Mediterranean Sea this year alone. Thousands are now racing to make the dangerous crossing before summer ends, as European authorities and non-governmental organizations struggle to rescue and accommodate the influx. Agence France-Presse photographer Aris Messinis recently spent time aboard rescue vehicles documenting just some of the thousands of desperate migrants plucked from smuggler’s boats left drifting in the Mediterranean over the past few days.
Harrowing Scenes From the Mediterranean as Migrants Risk Everything for a Chance at a Better Life
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Read moreA migrant is rescued from the Mediteranean sea by a member of Proactiva Open Arms NGO some 20 nautical miles north of Libya on October 3, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants wait to be rescued as they drift in the Mediterranean 20 nautical miles north off the coast of Libya on October 3, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants wait to be rescued as they drift in the Mediterranean Sea north off the coast of Libya on October 3, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants wait to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean Sea, about 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016. At least 1,800 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast that day, the Italian coastguard announced, adding that similar operations were underway around 15 other overloaded vessels. #
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Read moreMigrants wait to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreAn airplane drops flotation devices as migrants wait to be rescued in the Mediterranean on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants wait for rescue as members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO approach on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants try to pull a child out of the water as they wait to be rescued, about 12 nautical miles north of the Libyan coast, on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants wait to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants wait to be rescued in the Mediterranean Sea on October 4, 2016. #
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreA migrant is rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO from the Mediterranean on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants wait to be rescued as they drift in the Mediterranean, north of Libya, on October 4, 2016. #
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreA migrant is rescued from the Mediteranean by a member of Proactiva Open Arms NGO on October 4, 2016. #
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreMembers of Proactiva Open Arms NGO evacuate a dead body from a drifting boat during a rescue operation on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreDead bodies lie in the bottom level of a three-level wooden vessel, discovered during a rescue operation by Members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants await rescue on October 4, 2016. #
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreMigrants wait to be rescued in the Mediterranean Sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreA migrant helps another as they try to stay out of the water while awaiting rescue on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants crowd an inflatable boat while waiting to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreMigrants await their rescue on October 4, 2016. #
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Read moreA child looks on as she is rescued from a distressed vessel by a member of Proactiva Open Arms NGO on October 3, 2016. #
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This image may contain graphic or objectionable content.
Click to view imageRead moreMigrants sit on a boat next to bodies of other migrants before being rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms on October 4, 2016. Twenty-eight Europe-bound migrants were found dead on a day of frantic rescues off Libya, including at least 22 in an overloaded wooden boat, an AFP photographer and the Italian coastguard said. #
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Read moreA woman has fainted after being rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean Sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016. #
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty
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