Greece's Immigrant Odyssey

JOHN KOLESIDIS / REUTERS

Immigrants are seen inside a camp in the southwestern town of Patras

As another orange speck flickers on the radar screen, the captain gently pushes his twin-engine Lambro up to 30 knots. Two hours into an overnight patrol, the coast guard boat glides nearer its invisible target in the narrow strait separating the Greek island of Lesbos from mainland Turkey. The 36-ft. (11 m) cruiser slows as it draws close to its quarry, and its four Greek sailors gather at the front windshield. One of the men trips the Lambro's floodlights. Bobbing in the open sea 50 feet away are five young men, shielding their eyes from the sudden beam of light. Closer...

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