Despite Cold, Record-Breaking Numbers of Refugees Arrive in Greece

In the past week alone, 19 people are believed to have drowned crossing the sea to Greece, including three children and a baby, Lesbos, Greece, Jan. 19, 2016. (VOA/Hamada Elrasam)

Despite the cold weather this month, more than 20 times the amount of people are arriving in Greece than in January of 2015, a year in which more than a million people made the dangerous journey to Europe seek asylum, Jan. 19, 2016, Lesbos, Greece. (VOA/H

Aid workers say when the people arrive on shore, their clothes are usually wet, and in cold weather, the wet clothes can quickly freeze, Lesbos, Greece, Jan. 19, 2016. (VOA/Hamada Elrasam)

Officials say nearly half the new arrivals are from Syria so far this year and the rest of the people are mostly from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Iran, in Lesbos, Greece, Jan. 19, 2016. (VOA/Hamada Elrasam)

It snowed for the first time in years in Lesbos this week, and aid workers say fewer boats land during storms, but many more people are braving the cold than at this time last year, Lesbos, Greece, Jan. 19, 2016. (VOA/Hamada Elrasam)