ThirstyFish

While the European Union is still trying to figure out what to do with Syrian refugees, migrants are crossing Turkey and hopping over to the Greek Islands on small boats and dinghies, seeking a better future in Europe. This was photographed in the Port of Vathy on the island of Samos.

Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, over 6.5 million Syrians have been displaced with over 4 million refugees fleeing to neighboring countries. Turkey hosts an estimated 2.1 million, Lebanon 1.2 million and Jordan 1.4 million. Frustrated migrants themselves blame the U.S. for their predicament while the U.S. is planning to welcome only 10,000 refugees - a laughable figure given the scale of the crisis. Regime change is bad policy.

My so called vacation on the Island of Samos in Greece is haunted with images of migrant families asking us for some water. After we gave away the only bottle of water we had in the rental car, sadness sank in. Most migrants, like the ones in this photo, end up in ports awaiting the next ship that will take them to mainland Greece. They leave everything they have behind, with the hope that a European country will take them in. A journey to the unknown. I have to commend the people of Samos. They were exceptionally kind to the migrants.