Portraits of refugees along Europe migrant trail

Shortly after a dinghy overloaded with refugees from Syria and Iraq reached the Greek island of Lesbos, Mahmoud Naoura stood and raised his hands, chanting "Thank you God, we are safe."

Once ashore, he held his shivering daughter Huda, 5, who was injured and lost some of her sight in a government airstrike that destroyed their home in Aleppo, Syria, in 2012. He's hoping that somewhere in Europe they will find a cure.

In this photo taken on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, Syrian refugee Mahmoud Naoura, 30, who came from Aleppo, Syria, poses for a picture while holding his daughter Huda, 5, who was injured in 2012 by a government bombing on their home which made her lose her sight, shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. Naoura said “I just want to cure my daughter. Huda will see again, inshallah, and when she will open her eyes I want her to see a safe environment around.” (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

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"I just want to cure my daughter. Huda will see again, inshallah, and when she will open her eyes, I want her to see a safe environment," Mahmoud said.

More than half a million people trying to escape conflict and poverty have crossed the Mediterranean to seek what they hope will be new lives in Europe this year, more than double the figure for all of 2014. Many are fleeing the violence in Syria, but others come from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Eritrea and elsewhere. Once in Europe, they travel on foot and by train and bus, moving through the inhospitable countries of eastern and central Europe toward places considered more welcoming, such as Germany and Sweden.

Here is a series of portraits by Muhammed Muheisen, The Associated Press chief photographer for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, showing 20 people at different points along the journey through Europe, from the shores of Lesbos in Greece to a bridge that takes them from Austria into Germany.

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In this photo taken on Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, Syrian refugee Hussein Sbaih, 18, who came from Damascus, Syria, carries his cousin Saifuallah, 7, whose legs are broken, while posing for a picture after they crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, southern Hungary. "My cousin's legs are broken and I had to carry him for long distances I am so tired and lost and have no clue where we are going,” Sbaih said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, Syrian refugee Waleed Mohammed, 30, who came from Aleppo, Syria, holds his 9-month-old son Omar while posing for a picture after they crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, southern Hungary. "Whatever it takes I have one goal, a safe and better future for my wife and two children. The cold water didn't matter and the brutality of the police in Macedonia, I can see my wife and child traumatized but hopefully they will have a better future in Sweden,” he said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Monday, Sept. 21, 2015, Iraqi refugee Sajjad Hussein, 5, who came with parents from Basra, Iraq, poses for a picture while waiting to board a train in Celje, Slovenia. “I am going with my family to Sweden, can't wait to arrive,” he said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015, Syrian refugee Sabha Nasser, 62, who came from al-Hasaka, Syria, carries her belongings on her head as poses for a picture, after crossing the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, southern Hungary. “We had to flee our homes, the shelling is endless. I am old and I need peace. These last 15 days on the road were so humiliating and so miserable I just hope tomorrow will be better," she said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Monday, Sept. 21, 2015, Syrian refugee Farah Alkuled, 18, who came with her parents from Daraya, Syria, holds her cat Jack while posing for a picture at the train station to board a train in Celje, Slovenia. “We walked a lot, we suffered a lot in Macedonia and Serbia, we were not treated like humans. I just want to be in Germany, hoping to study and become a human rights activist and help people. Also we have relatives there. Our country is destroyed, it’s time to have a life and peace, it was a life or death trip from the moment we left," she said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, Afghan refugee Bibi Gul Ali, who came from Herat, Afghanistan, poses for a picture while hoping to board a train at the station in Tovarnik, Croatia. "I am a widow, I am alone I don't know where I am going,” she said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, Syrian refugee Osama Bakir, 5, who came with his parents from Aleppo, Syria, holds his toy while posing for a picture in a shelter near Graz, Austria. "We are going to Germany," he said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, Syrian refugee Radwan Shtaiwi, 8, who came from Deir el-Zour, Syria, poses for a picture while he and his family are hoping to board a train at the station in Tovarnik, Croatia. "I wish to go to Germany to see my father who had been there for a year, I just want to be with my dad again and my mother is a teacher and I wish she will find work and go to the same school with her," he said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, Syrian refugee Abdulwahab Alabdullah, 5, who came with his family from Aleppo, Syria, poses for a picture while waiting on a bridge after they spent the night waiting for their registration and transport by German police to a refugee shelter in Freilassing, Germany. "I am so cold waiting with my father and mother and younger brother from two days in this bridge," he said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015, Syrian refugee Jamal Almasri, 54, who came from Damascus, Syria, wraps himself and his granddaughter with a shawl to shelter from the morning cold as he poses for a picture, after spending the night at a collection point in the truck parking lot of the former border station on the Austrian side of the Hungarian-Austrian border near Nickelsdorf, Austria. Almasri said, "We met death, we just want to have a life, any life with a rooftop and a shelter. Our lives are over, what matters is the children.” (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, Iranian Hamideh Salehi, 38, center and her children Ali, 6, left, and Hussein, 2, who came from Mashhad, Iran, pose for a picture in a shelter where they took refuge near Graz, Austria. "Weeks of walking was very difficult for my children, the cold in the nights, we were hungry and thirsty, we walked for so long and I had to carry my children. I am happy I am here at this shelter in Austria, I dream of freedom and a good education for my kids that's all I want," Salehi said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, Afghan refugee Fatima Rezai, 10, who came with her parents from Mazar-i Sharif, Afghanistan, poses for a picture while waiting on a bridge after spending the night waiting for their registration and transport by German police to a refugee shelter in Freilassing, Germany. "Life in Afghanistan is so scary especially for girls, I was so afraid in this trip was so difficult and long walking, I am hoping to become a doctor in Germany and help people,” she said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, Syrian refugee Ala’aldeen Mohammed, 25, who was injured in 2013 in a government bombing that burnt his upper body and face, who came from Aleppo, Syria, poses for a picture shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. “In Germany, they can cure the burns from my injury following a government airstrike in 2013 that I have all over my upper body," he said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015, Iraqi refugee Mohammed Sadoun, 39, and his wife Suhad, 35, who came from Mosul, Iraq, pose for a picture with their children from right, Abdulrahman, 9, Abdullah, 3, and Hadeel, 11, shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. “We had to run from Islamic State, IS, death will reach us all if we don’t. I wish to reach Germany where humanity exists, and my children will grow up with a bright future,” Mohammed Sadoun said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, Syrian refugee Ali Shaheen, 62, and his wife Abeer, 52, who came from the countryside of Damascus, Syria, pose for a picture shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. “Me and my wife are old and we can’t walk, we were mistreated in Turkey, we are so tired," Ali said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, Syrian refugee brothers from right, Sarokan Nasser, 8, Hussam, 6, Ali, 10, who came with their father from al-Hasaka, Syria, pose for a picture while waiting in hope of boarding a train at the station in Tovarnik, Croatia. "We are going to Germany to join our mother and sister who went a month ago. We just want to grow up in a good country,” Ali said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, Afghan refugee Abdullah Hussein, 39, and his daughters Satara, left and Rukhsara, who came from Mazar-i Sharif, Afghanistan, pose for a picture after spending the night at a collection point in the truck parking lot of the former border station on the Austrian side of the Hungarian-Austrian border near Nickelsdorf, Austria. "I don't know which country I am going to or will end in, I just want my children to have a future. In Afghanistan we are in war for the last four decades, but no one paid us attention, we live a tough life and no one cares for us and we are stuck, I just want to provide a good future to my children, after this trip there is no turning back to Afghanistan,” Hussein said (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, Syrian refugee Raghad Faleh, 8, who came with her family from Idlib, Syria, poses for a picture while holding a balloon given to her by volunteers, a few hours after she and her family arrived on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. “My feet are killing me from pain, I walked a lot,” Faleh said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

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Text from the AP news story, AP Photos: Portraits of Refugees Along Europe Migrant Trail, by Muhammed Muheisen. 

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