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Refugees caught between hope and harsh winter

Thousands of people defy the bitter cold to continue risking the dangerous journey to Europe.

Cold weather and refugees
People of all ages brave the snow and cold weather as they try to reach a refugee camp on Tuesday in the Serbian village of Miratovac near border between Serbia and Macedonia [Djordje Savic/EPA]
Published On 6 Jan 2016

The bitter winter weather has truly set in across much of Europe, but that has failed to deter thousands of refugees from risking the dangerous journey in the hope of a better future.

From the rough Aegean Sea waters, through the snowy trek across the Balkans, to the plunging temperatures in northern Europe, people of all ages are defying tough winter conditions to escape war and hardship. 

More than 900,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Europe last year.

Cold weather and refugees
A child from Syria looks on, moments after arriving on a raft with other Syrian refugees on a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos on Monday [Giorgos Moutafis/Reuters]
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Cold weather and refugees
Refugees line up early on Wednesday at the LaGeSo registration center for refugees and asylum seekers in Berlin, Germany [Markus Schreiber/AP]
Cold weather and refugees
A mother warms the hands of her little child in a tent at the central registration center for refugees and asylum seekers LaGeSo (Landesamt fuer Gesundheit und Soziales - State Office for Health and Social Affairs) LaGeSo during freezing temperatures in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 4, 2016. [Kay Nietfeld/dpa/AP]
Cold weather and refugees
The number of refugees entering Serbia has not decreased, despite snow and low temperatures. About 1,000 refugees arrived from Macedonia by train on Tuesday morning [Djordje Savic/EPA]
Cold weather and refugees
A group of refugees move through snow on Tuesday towards a train station near the Slovenia-Croatia border in order to be transferred to Austria [Darko Bandic/AP]
Cold weather and refugees
Undeterred by the bitter cold and the rough winter seas, refugees are continuing to risk the journey to Greece in the hope of a better future in Europe. Most of them are Syrian refugees escaping the civil war, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. [Santi Palacios/AP]
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Cold weather and refugees
Refugees look at a Slovenian policeman as they stand under a tent near a railway station in Dobova, Slovenia [Darko Bandic/AP]
Cold weather and refugees
A group of refugees cross a snow-covered road near Tabanovce in northern Macedonia on Monday [Boris Grdanoski/AP]