Getty Images photographer Chris McGrath recently spent about two weeks with crew members aboard the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) Phoenix vessel as they patrolled the Mediterranean between Italy and Libya. During several missions, the crew rescued hundreds of migrants, some from capsized vessels—and recovered dozens of bodies from the sea. The United Nations estimates that more than 65,000 migrants have arrived in Europe this year so far from Africa and the Middle East, about one-third as many as arrived in 2016 by the same date. The large part of that decrease is due to tighter restrictions nearly cutting off migrants entering through Greece. As migrants move to other, more dangerous routes, the death toll has climbed to more than 1,500 so far this year—more than 2016, despite the significant decrease in overall numbers.
Desperate Migrants Risk Everything in Deadly Mediterranean Crossings
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Read moreRefugees and migrants swim towards a rescue craft as a rescue crew member of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) Phoenix vessel pulls a man on board after a wooden boat bound for Italy carrying more than 500 people capsized on May 24, 2017, off Lampedusa, Italy. #
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Read moreRefugees and migrants put on life jackets distributed by rescue crews of the MOAS Phoenix on May 24, 2017, off Lampedusa, Italy. The boat, one of three in the area later capsized killing more than 30 people. Crew members from the 'Phoenix' rescued 603 people. #
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Read moreRefugees and migrants are seen swimming and yelling for assistance from crew members from the MOAS Phoenix, after a wooden boat bound for Italy capsized on May 24, 2017. #
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Read moreCrew members of the MOAS Phoenix help a man into a rescue boat on May 24, 2017, off Lampedusa, Italy. #
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Read moreA rescue crew member from the MOAS Phoenix reaches out to pull a man into a rescue craft on May 24, 2017. #
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Read moreA man tries to swim to a rescue craft after a wooden boat bound for Italy partially capsized on May 24, 2017, off Lampedusa, Italy. #
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Read moreRefugees and migrants swim and yell for assistance from crew members of the MOAS Phoenix on May 24, 2017. #
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Read moreA woman cries after losing her baby in the water as she sits in a rescue boat of the MOAS Phoenix on May 24, 2017. #
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Read moreA man is helped off a rescue craft by crew members of the MOAS Phoenix on May 24, 2017. #
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Read moreRescued refugees and migrants on board the MOAS Phoenix on May 25, 2017. #
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Click to view imageRead moreThe bodies of two babies lie on a table as a paramedic tries to save the life of a third child, who later died, after they were pulled from the sea by rescue crews from the MOAS Phoenix on May 24, 2017, off Lampedusa, Italy. #
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Read moreThe body of a man is seen floating in the water as rescue crews from the MOAS Phoenix collected bodies of those who drowned at sea after a wooden boat bound for Italy capsized with more than 500 people on board on May 24, 2017, off Lampedusa, Italy. #
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Read moreRescue crews and medical staff of the MOAS Phoenix unload bodies of people who drowned at sea after their wooden boat capsized on May 24, 2017. #
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Read moreA member of the medical staff of the MOAS Phoenix carries a body of a migrant who drowned at sea on May 24, 2017. #
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Read moreA member of the medical staff of the MOAS Phoenix walks past bodies of migrants and refugees who drowned when their wooden boat partially capsized on May 24, 2017. #
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Read moreTwo men rest aboard the MOAS Phoenix on May 25, 2017 off Lampedusa, Italy. #
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Read moreRefugees and migrants aboard the MOAS Phoenix on May 26, 2017, off Crotone, Italy. The refugees and migrants are being transferred to a port in Italy after being rescued at sea by crew members of the Phoenix. #
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Read moreThe body of a migrant who died at sea attempting to reach Italy on May 24 is carried off the MOAS Phoenix by Italian forensic teams on May 27, 2017, in Crotone, Italy. More than 600 refugees and migrants were transferred to Italy after being rescued at sea on May 24, by crew members of the Phoenix. #
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Read moreA member of the Italian Red Cross wheels a coffin containing the body of a migrant who died at sea on May 24 after the MOAS Phoenix disembarked more than 600 people on May 27, 2017, in Crotone, Italy. #
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Read moreA MOAS crew member checks images relayed from a surveillance aircraft during an early morning patrol aboard the MOAS Phoenix on May 16, 2017, in the SAR region, Italy. #
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Read moreRefugees and migrants wait to be rescued from a small wooden boat by crew members of the MOAS Phoenix on May 18, 2017, off Lampedusa, Italy. #
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Read moreA small rubber boat overcrowded with refugees and migrants passes a boat set alight by rescue crews of the MOAS Phoenix after all passengers were rescued on May 18, 2017. The boats are often burned to prevent them from being recovered and used again by smugglers. #
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Read moreSearch and rescue crew members transfer refugees and migrants to the MOAS Phoenix on May 18, 2017, near Lampedusa, Italy. #
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Read moreMOAS crew members distribute food to refugees and migrants aboard the Phoenix on May 19, 2017, near Trapani, Italy. #
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Read moreA member of the MOAS medical staff feeds a young baby aboard the MOAS Phoenix after being rescued at sea on May 18, 2017. #
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Read moreA man keeps warm under a blanket aboard the MOAS Phoenix after being rescued at sea on May 18, 2017, near Lampedusa, Italy. #
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