Parents were forced to hold their children above freezing January waves as they struggled to reach shore on the Greek island of Lesbos on Sunday.
The group of migrants and refugees were helped to disembark by volunteers, although several were forced to wade to the beach after falling overboard.
Photographs show one father struggling to reach shore as he tried to hold his tiny, terrified daughter above the waves.
Another image shows a group gathered around a woman in tears, while in another photograph, a little girl cries as she sits wrapped in a giant, silver thermal blanket after the harrowing crossing from Turkey.
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Struggle: A man carries a child as they try to reach shore after falling into the sea while disembarking from a dinghy, on which they crossed a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Lesbos. It comes as Turkish coastguards rescued 57 migrants and refugees from an islet
Ashore: A group of asylum-seekers disembark at the Greek island of Lesbos, after being helped ashore by volunteers. A different group had to be rescued by Turkish coastguards after they were left stranded on a rocky islet in the Aegean Sea
Once on shore, the group were handed thermal blankets stamped with the logo of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as they sat on the beach near the town of Mytilene.
It comes the day after charity workers created a giant peace sign out of thousands of life-jackets on the hills of the Greek island, in honour of those who have died while making the perilous crossing in the hope of reaching Europe.
The onset of winter and rougher sea conditions do not appear to have deterred the asylum-seekers, with boats still arriving on the Greek islands daily.
Elsewhere, Turkish coastguards rescued a group of 57 migrants and refugees, including children, after they were left stranded on a rocky islet in the Aegean Sea.
The group was trying to reach Greece by making the perilous journey across the sea, but they hit trouble after leaving the Turkish resort of Dikili, in Izmir province
Tears: A little girl cries as she sits wrapped in a thermal blanket while sitting on a beach near the town of Mytilene, on Lesbos, shortly after crossing the Aegean Sea
Safety: A man carries a child as they try to reach a shore after falling into the sea while disembarking from a dinghy on which they crossed a part of the Aegean Sea
Panic: A group surrounds a woman who is in floods of tears after the crossing, which has proved fatal for so many migrants and refugees
Warm: A woman holds a child on a beach near the town of Mytilene, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea on a dinghy with other refugees and migrants. The pair are wrapped in blankets stamped with the logo of the UNHCR
Family: A Syrian man holds his child in a tight embrace on a beach near the town of Mytilene, after crossing the Aegean Sea in a dinghy
Twelve of the most vulnerable, including three children, were airlifted to safety by coastguard helicopters, according to Turkey's Anatolia news agency.
Meanwhile, the other 45 were picked up by fishing boats as the larger coastguard vessels couldn't get near to the rocky islet.
The group was then taken to Dikili port, to recover following the dramatic rescue.
Turkey, which is home to some 2.2million refugees from Syria's civil war, has become a hub for migrants seeking to move to Europe, many of whom pay people smugglers thousands of pounds for the risky crossing.
The UN refugee agency and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have said more than one million migrants and refugees reached Europe in 2015, most of them by sea.
The vast majority of people - over 800,000 - landed in Greece, according to the figures.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3383031/Fighting-elements-Refugee-parents-hold-terrified-frozen-children-waves-struggle-reach-Lesbos.html#ixzz3wHOaCvnT
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