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Elvan Katmer, Turkey CorrespondentLast Modified: 14:33 p.m. EDT, 26 October 2015

WASHINGTON, DC -White House press secretary , Josh Ernest, told media members on September 10, that President Obama directed his team to get prepared to admit at least 10,000 refugees into the United States by the end of the next fiscal year.

Since the civil war started in Syria, millions of civilians have been displaced and millions have fled the country. According to the United Nation’s Report on Syria in August, 7.6 million Syrians were displaced since 2011, and 4 million have become refugees fleeing the country. In an International Rescue Committee report dated July 9, it is noted that of the 4 million, 1.8 million Syrians took refuge in Turkey, making the country have the largest refugee population in the world. The same report also noted that 1.2 million Syrians took refuge in Lebanon, and 629,000 sought safety in Jordan.

Many refugees sought for a better life in Europe, and in the rest of western civilization. In most cases, the shortest cut to European land is some Greek island in the Aegean Sea. There have always been migrants trying to make it across the Mediterranean or Aegean Sea for a better life in Europe. Due to the swift increase in the number of migrants since the civil war started in Syria, countries took stricter measures against human trafficking. However, the increasing number of migrants due to the civil war in Syria and ISIS’s savage takeover, along with insufficient equipment for seaway transportation resulting from strict measures, and human force to make it across have led to a tremendous tragedy.

Since 2011, more than 2,000 Syrians drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in their attempt to make it across, mostly in inflatable boats. Though these numbers have been accumulating over the years, it only came to the attention of the civilized world in September when three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi’s dead body was washed ashore in one of the most popular tourist towns in Turkey, Bodrum in Izmir. In the same accident, his older brother was also drowned and washed off 50 meters from him. Turkish coast guard additionally recovered 10 other bodies from the same accident.

Although this has been an ongoing issue, the authorities are not stopping thousands of people from sailing to their deaths. A yacht captain in Bodrum, Turkey, who sails along Greek Islands for a tourism company, said everyone knows how it works. People all know where to get together. The bay has become a migration transit point. Yet, they are not stopped until they sail off, and eventually sink as a result of overload, insufficient equipment, and in some cases direct attacks from Greek Coast Guard once they get into the Greek waters.

“People are desperate. They are already escaping a war; water does not really scare them. When I go to port to pick up a passenger for our tours, someone always offer some money to me to get them to Kos Island. The money they offer is thousands of Euros,” he said. “No sensible person would take such a risk and responsibility. In most cases, people go ahead and buy their own inflatable boat, sometimes a very old fishing boat. They are always overloaded with people, and safety is not the priority. Eventually, in open waters a small mistake sinks the overloaded boat. Sometimes, it is the Greek Coast Guard itself, which deliberately sinks the inflated boats, and leave people to death.”

The tragedy is not over with the sinking boats and people being buried in the Mediterranean Sea. Thousands of people make it across the sea, seek shelter and try taking refuge, or use the country as a transit spot for their final destination.

An IRC image showing the most common path to Germany, one of the most common destinations in Europe for the migrants. An International Organization for Migration (IOM) report stated that recorded migrant arrival to Europe by sea in 2015 is 473,887 men women and children.

From Syria to Germany, Refugee Travel Path, Photo by IRC Int'l Rescue Comm

An International Organization for Migration (IOM) report stated that recorded migrant arrival to Europe by sea in 2015 is 473,887 men, women, and children. At least 182,000 of those are coming from Syria. The biggest problem arises as the European countries were not ready to accommodate such high numbers of human flow in such a short time. Consequently, the refugee camps are not anywhere close to handling the number of people, and letting people continue their march is technically illegal without regulation.

Europe, as well as the US, continues to take measures on its refugee crisis as the world continues to hear the deaths of people who are struggling to survive, either trying to make it across the Mediterranean, or surviving sporadic explosions while in Syria.

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